MOTHER 
WEST  WIND 
"WHERE"  STORIES 


THORNTON- W- BURGESS 


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Mother  west  Wind  ;;where"st^         / 


3   ^IS3   004^0^0"^   1 


CO 


o 


MOTHER  WEST  WIND 
"WHERE"   STORIES 


H  ATS   la    t  VN       Ca.1 


Then  there  was  a  crash,  and  everybody's  eyes 
flew  open." 

Feontispiece.      See  Page  2Jf3. 


BURGESS  ISADE  QUADDIES  mark 

MOTHER  WEST  WIND 
"WHERE"  STORIES 


BY 
THORNTON  W.   BURGESS 


Illustrations  by 
HARBISON  CADY 


GROSSET  &  DUNLAP 

Publishers  New  Yoeb: 

By  arrangement  with  little,  Brown,  and  Company 


Copyright,  1918, 
By  Thornton  W.  Burgess. 

All  right*  reserved 


PUMTBD  ™  THB  UnITKD  StATBB  OF  AMKRIOA 


CONTENTS 


I.    Where   Grandfather   Froo   Qot 

His  Big  Mouth        ...        1 
II.    Where    Miser    the    Trade    Rat 

First  Set  Up  Shop  ...       17 
III.     Where  Yap- Yap  the  Prairie  Dog 

Used  His  Wits        ...       31 
lY.     Where    Yellow- Wing    Got    His 

Liking  for  the  Ground  .         .       47 
V.    Where  Little  Chiep  Learned  To 

Maeie  Hay       ....       61 
VI.    Where  Glutton  the  Wolverine 

Got  His  Name         ...       77 
VII.     Where    Old   Mrs.    'Gator   Made 

the  First  Incubator        .         .       91 
YIII.    Where     Mr.     Quack     Got    His 

Webbed  Feet  .         .         .         .107 
IX.    Where  Thunderpoot  the  Bison 

Got  His  Hump         .         .         .123 
X.    Where     Limberheels     Got     His 

Long  Tail        .         .         .         .139 
XI.    Where  Old  Mr.  Gobbler  Got  the 

Strutting  Habit      .         .         .     155 


Vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII.     Where      Seek-Seek      Got      His 

Pretty  Coat    ....     169 

XIII.  Where  Old  Mr.  Osprey  Learned 

To  Fish 185 

XIV.  Where  Old  Mr.  Bob-Cat  Left  His 

Honor 199 

XV.    Where  Dippy  the  Loon  Got  the 

Name  of  Being  Crazy      .         .     213 
XVI.     Where  Big-Horn  Got  His  Curved 

Horns 229 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

*'  Then  there  was  a  crash,  and  every- 
body's EYES  FLEW  OPEN  "  .         Froutispiece 

*'  Little    Chief's    father    taught    him 

how  to  make  hay  "         .  .  .72 

Peter  noticed  those  feet  the  first  time 

HE  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack  .         .     112 

**  Don't  call  me  Striped  Chipmunk,  and 

don't  call  me  Gopher!  "  said  he     .     176 


WHERE  GRANDFATHER  FROG  GOT  HIS 
BIG  MOUTH 


MOTHER  WEST  WIND 
"WHERE"  STORIES 


WHERE    GRANDFATHER    FROG   GOT    HIS    BIG 
MOUTH 

EVERYBODY  knows  that  Grand- 
father Frog  has  a  big  mouth. 
Of  course!  It  wouldn't  be  pos- 
sible to  look  him  straight  in  the  face 
and  not  know  that  he  has  a  big  mouth. 
In  fact,  about  all  you  see  when  you 
look  Grandfather  Frog  full  in  the  face 
are  his  great  big  mouth  and  two  great 
big  goggly  eyes.  He  seems  then  to  be 
all  mouth  and  eyes. 

Anyway,  that  is  what  Peter  Rabbit 
says.  Peter  never  will  forget  the  first 
time  he  saw  Grandfather  Frog.    Peter 


4   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

was  very  young  then.  He  had  run 
away  from  home  to  see  the  Great 
World,  and  in  the  course  of  his  wan- 
derings he  came  to  the  Smiling  Pool. 
Never  before  had  he  seen  so  much 
water.  The  most  water  he  had  ever 
seen  before  was  a  little  puddle  in  the 
Lone  Little  Path.  So  when  Peter,  who 
was  only  half  grown  then,  hopped  out 
on  the  bank  of  the  Smiling  Pool  and 
saw  it  dimpling  and  smiling  in  the 
sunshine,  he  thought  it  the  most  won- 
derful thing  he  ever  had  seen.  The 
truth  is  that  in  those  days  Peter  was 
in  the  habit  of  thinking  everything 
he  saw  for  the  first  time  the  most 
wonderful  thing  yet,  and  as  he  was 
continually  seeing  new  things,  and  as 
his  eyes  always  nearly  popped  out  of 
his  head  whenever  he  saw  something 
new,  it  is  a  wonder  that  he  didn't 
become  pop-eyed. 


GRANDFATHER  FROG'S  BIG  MOUTH       5 

Peter  stared  and  stared  at  the  Smil- 
ing Pool,  and  little  by  little  lie  began 
to  see  otber  things.  First  he  noticed 
the  bulrushes  growing  with  their  feet 
in  the  water.  They  looked  to  him 
like  giant  grass,  and  he  began  to  be  a 
little  fearful  lest  this  should  prove  to 
be  a  sort  of  magic  place  —  a  place  of 
giants.  Then  he  noticed  the  lily-pads, 
and  he  stared  very  hard  at  these. 
They  looked  like  growing  things,  and 
yet  they  seemed  to  be  floating  right 
on  top  of  the  water.  It  wasn't  until 
a  Merry  Little  Breeze  came  along  and 
turned  the  edge  of  one  up  so  that 
Peter  saw  the  long  stem  running  down 
in  the  water  out  of  sight,  that  he  was 
able  to  understand  how  those  lily-pads 
could  be  growing  there.  He  was  still 
staring  at  those  lily-pads  when  a  great 
deep  voice  said: 

^'  Chug-a-rum!     Chug-a-rum!    Don^t 


6    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

you  know  it  isn't  polite  to  stare  at 
people?  " 

That  voice  was  so  unexpected  and 
so  deep  that  Peter  was  startled.  He 
jumped,  started  to  run,  then  stopped. 
He  wanted  to  run,  but  cuiriosity 
wouldn't  let  him.  He  simply  couldn't 
run  away  until  he  had  found  out  where 
that  voice  came  from  and  to  whom  it 
belonged.  It  seemed  to  Peter  that  it 
had  come  from  right  out  of  the  Smil- 
ing Pool,  but  look  as  he  would,  he 
couldn't  see  any  one  there. 

"  If  you  please,"  said  Peter  timidly, 
**  I'm  not  staring  at  anybody."  All 
the  time  he  was  staring  down  into  the 
Smiling  Pool  with  eyes  fairly  popping 
out  of  his  head. 

*'  Chug-a-rum!  Have  a  care,  young 
fellow  f  Have  a  care  how  you  talk  to 
your  elders.  Do  you  mean  to  be  im- 
pudent enough  to  tell  me  to  my  face 


GRANDFATHER  FROG'S  BIG  MOUTH       7 

that  I  am  not  anybody?  "  The  voice 
was  deeper  and  gruffer  than  ever,  and 
it  made  Peter  more  micomfortable 
than  ever. 

''  Oh,  no.  Sir!  No,  indeed!  "  ex- 
claimed Peter.  '^  I  don't  mean  any- 
thing of  the  kind.  I  —  I  —  well,  if 
you  please,  Sir,  I  don't  see  you  at  all, 
so  how  can  I  be  staring  at  you?  I'm 
sure  from  the  sound  of  your  voice  that 
you  must  be  somebody  very  important. 
Please  excuse  me  for  seeming  to  stare. 
I  was  just  looking  for  you,  that  is  all." 

A  little  movement  in  the  water  close 
to  a  big  green  Uly-pad  caught  Peter's 
eyes,  and  then  out  on  the  big  green 
lily-pad  climbed  Grandfather  Frog.  If 
Peter  had  stared  before  he  doubly 
stared  now,  eyes  and  mouth  wide  open. 
Grandfather  Frog  was  looking  his 
very  best  in  his  handsome  green  coat 
and  white-and-yellow  waistcoat.     But 


8    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Peter  had  hardly  noticed  these  at  all. 

**  Why,  you're  all  mouth!  ''  he  ex- 
claimed, and  then  looked  very  much 
ashamed  of  his  impoliteness. 

Grandfather  Frog's  great  goggly 
eyes  twinkled.  He  knew  that  Peter 
was  very  young  and  innocent  and  just 
starting  out  in  the  Great  World.  He 
knew  that  Peter  didn't  intend  to  be 
impolite. 

**  Not  quite,"  said  he  good-naturedly. 
"  Not  quite  all  mouth,  though  I  must 
admit  that  it  is  of  good  size.  The 
fact  is,  I  wouldn't  have  it  a  bit  smaller 
if  I  could.  If  it  were  any  smaller,  I 
should  miss  many  a  good  meal,  and  if 
I  were  forced  to  do  that,  I  am  afraid 
I  should  be  very  ill-tempered  indeed. 
The  truth  is,  I  am  very  proud  of  my 
big  mouth.  I  don't  know  of  any  one 
who  has  a  bigger  one  for  their  size." 

He  opened  his  mouth  wide,  and  it 


GRANDFATHER  FROG'S  BIG  MOUTH       9 

seemed  to  Peter  that  Grandfather 
Frog's  whole  head  simply  split  in 
halves.  He  hadn't  supposed  anybody 
in  all  the  Great  World  possessed  such 
a  mouth. 

**  Where  did  you  get  it?  "  gasped 
Peter,  and  then  felt  that  he  had  asked 
a  very  foolish  question. 

Grandfather  Frog  chuckled.  *^  I 
got  it  from  my  father,  and  he  got  his 
from  his  father,  and  so  on,  way  back 
to  the  days  when  the  world  was  young 
and  the  Frogs  ruled  the  world,"  said 
he.  ^*  Would  you  like  to  hear  about 
it?" 

''  I'd  love  to!  "  cried  Peter.  So  he 
settled  himself  comfortably  on  the 
bank  of  the  Smiling  Pool  for  the  first 
of  many,  many  stories  he  was  to  hear 
from  Grandfather  Frog. 

*'  Chug-a-rum!  "  began  Grandfather 
Frog.     You  know  he  always  begins  a 


10   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

story  that  way.  *^  Chug-a-rum!  Once 
upon  a  time  the  Great  World  was 
mostly  water,  and  most  of  the  people 
lived  in  the  water.  It  was  in  those 
days  that  my  great-great-ever-so-great- 
grandfather  lived.  Those  were  happy 
days  for  the  Frogs.  Yes,  indeed, 
those  were  happy  days  for  the  Frogs. 
Of  course  they  had  enemies,  but  those 
enemies  were  all  in  the  water.  They 
didn't  have  to  be  watching  out  for 
danger  from  the  air  and  from  the  land, 
as  I  do  now.  There  was  plenty  to  eat 
and  little  to  do,  and  the  Frog  tribe  in- 
creased very  fast.  In  fact,  the  Frogs 
increased  so  fast  that  after  a  while 
there  wasn't  plenty  to  eat.  That  is, 
there  wasn't  plenty  of  the  kind  of  food 
they  had  been  used  to,  which  was 
mostly  water  plants,  and  water  bugs 
and  such  things. 

'*  Of  course  there  were  many  fish, 


GRANDFATHER  FROG'S  BIG  MOUTH      11 

and  these  also  increased  very  fast,  and 
the  big  fish  ate  the  Frogs  whenever 
they  could  catch  them,  just  as  they 
do  to  this  day.  The  big  fish  also  ate 
the  little  fish,  and  it  wasn't  long  before 
the  Frogs  and  the  little  fish  took  to 
living  where  the  water  was  not  deep 
enough  for  the  big  fish  to  swim,  and 
this  made  it  all  the  harder  to  get 
enough  to  eat.  The  mouths  of  the 
Frogs  in  those  days  were  not  big.  In 
fact,  they  were  quite  small.  You  see, 
living  on  the  kind  of  food  they  did, 
they  had  no  need  of  big  mouths. 

"  One  day  as  a  Great-great-ever-so- 
great-grandfather  Frog  sat  with  just 
his  head  out  of  water,  wondering  what 
it  would  seem  like  to  have  his  stomach 
really  filled,  a  school  of  little  fish  came 
swimming  about  him,  and  it  popped 
into  his  head  that  if  little  fish  were 
good  for  big  fish  to  eat,  they  might  be 


12    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

good  for  a  Frog  to  eat.  So  he  caught 
the  first  one  that  came  within  reach, 
and  he  found  it  was  good  to  eat.  He 
liked  it  so  well  that  after  that  he 
caught  fish  whenever  he  could.  Of 
course  he  swallowed  them  whole.  He 
had  to,  because  he  had  no  chewing  or 
biting  teeth. 

**  Now  the  Frogs  always  have  been 
famous  for  their  appetites,  and  Great- 
grandfather Frog  found  that  it  took 
a  great  many  of  these  teeny  weeny 
fish  to  make  a  comfortable  meaL  He 
was  thinking  of  this  one  day  when  a 
larger  fish  came  within  reach,  and 
almost  without  realizing  what  he  was 
doing  Great-grandfather  snapped  at 
and  caught  him.  He  caught  the  fish  by 
the  tail  and  at  once  began  to  swallow 
it,  which,  of  course,  was  no  way  to 
swallow  a  fish.  But  Great-grandfather 
Frog  had  much  to  learn  in  those  days, 


GRANDFATHER  FROG'S  BIG  MOUTH      13 

and  so  he  tried  to  swallow  that  fish  tail 
first  instead  of  head  first.  He  got  the 
tail  down  and  the  smallest  part  of  the 
body,  and  then  that  fish  stuck.  Yes, 
Sir,  that  fish  stuck.  The  fact  was, 
Great-grandfather  Frog's  mouth  wasn't 
wide  enough.  It  was  bad  enough  not 
to  be  able  to  swallow  all  of  that  fish,  but 
what  was  worse  was  the  discovery 
that  he  couldn't  get  up  again  what 
he  had  swallowed.  That  fish  was 
stuck!  It  would  go  neither  down  nor 
up. 

''  Poor  Great-grandfather  Prog  was 
in  a  terrible  fix.  Big  tears  rolled  down 
his  cheeks.  He  choked  and  choked  and 
choked,  until  it  looked  very  much  as  if 
he  might  choke  to  death.  Just  in  time, 
in  the  very  nick  of  time,  who  should 
come  along  but  Old  Mother  Nature. 
She  saw  right  away  what  the  trouble 
was,  and  she  pulled  out  the  fish.    Then 


14    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

she  asked  how  that  fish  had  happened  to 
be  in  such  a  place  as  Grreat-grandfather 
Frog's  mouth.  When  he  could  get  his 
breath,  he  told  her  all  about  it  —  how 
food  had  been  getting  scarce  and  how 
he  had  discovered  that  fish  were  good 
to  eat,  and  how  he  had  make  a  mistake 
in  catching  a  fish  too  big  for  his  mouth. 
Old  Mother  Nature  looked  thoughtful. 
She  saw  the  great  niunbers  of  young 
fish.  Suddenly  she  reached  over  and 
put  a  finger  in  Great-grandfather 
Frog's  mouth  and  stretched  it  sideways. 
Then  she  did  the  same  thing  to  the 
other  comer.  Great-grandfather  Frog's 
mouth  was  three  times  as  big  as  it  had 
been  before. 

*' '  Now,'  said  she,  '  I  don't  believe 
you'll  have  any  more  trouble,  and  I'm 
going  to  do  the  same  thing  for  all  the 
other  Frogs.' 

**  She  did  that  very  day,  and  from 


GRANDFATHER  FROG^S  BIG  MOUTH      15 

then  on  the  Frogs  no  longer  had  any 
trouble  in  getting  plenty  to  eat.  So 
that  is  where  I  got  my  big  mouth,  and 
I  tell  you  right  now  I  wouldn't  trade 
it  for  anything  anybody  else  has  got," 
concluded  Grandfather  Frog,  as  he 
snapped  up  a  foolish  green  fly  who 
came  too  near. 

"  I  think  it  is  splendid,  perfectly 
splendid,''  cried  Peter.  *^  I  wish  I  had 
one  just  like  it."  And  then  he  won- 
dered why  Grandfather  Frog  laughed 
so  hard. 


n 


WHERE  MISER  THE  TRADE  RAT  FIRST 
SET  UP  SHOP 


n 


WHERE  MISER  THE   TRADE   RAT   FIRST   SET 
UP  SHOP 

IT  was  quite  by  accident  that  Peter 
Rabbit  first  heard  of  Miser  the 
Trade  Eat.  You  know  how  it  is 
with  Peter;  he  is  forever  using  those 
big  ears  of  his  to  learn  interesting 
things.  That  is  what  ears  are  for; 
but  there  is  a  right  way  and  a  wrong 
way  to  use  them,  and  I  am  afraid  that 
Peter  isn't  always  over-particular  in 
this  respect.  I  suspect,  in  fact  I  know, 
that  Peter  sometime  i^  listens  when  he 
has  no  business  to  listen  and  knows  he 
has  no  business  to  listen.  Again  he 
sometimes  overhears  things  quite  by 
accident   when   he   cannot   very   well 


20    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

help  hearing.  It  was  in  this  way  that 
he  first  heard  of  Miser  the  Trade  Rat. 

Peter  had  crept  into  a  hollow  log  in 
the  Green  Forest  to  rest  and  to  feel 
absolutely  safe  while  he  was  doing  it. 
He  had  been  there  only  a  little  while 
when  he  heard  light  footsteps  outside 
and  a  moment  later  a  voice  which 
made  him  shiver  a  little  in  spite  of 
himself  and  the  knowledge  that  he  was 
perfectly  safe.  The  footsteps  and  the 
voice  were  Old  Man  Coyote's. 

Very  carefully  Peter  peeped  out. 
Old  Man  Coyote  had  sat  down  close 
by  the  log  in  which  Peter  was 
hiding.  On  a  dead  tree  close  at  hand 
sat  or  Mistah  Buzzard,  who  had  come 
up  from  way  down  south  for  the  sum- 
mer, and  it  was  to  him  that  Old  Man 
Coyote  was  talking. 

*'  I  was  over  by  Farmer  Brown's 
bam  last  night,"  said  Old  Man  Coyote, 


WHERE  MISER  FIRST  SET  UP  SHOP        21 

*^  and  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Robber 
the  Brown  Rat.  What  a  disgrace  he  is 
to  the  whole  Rat  tribe !  For  that  mat- 
ter, he  is  a  disgrace  to  all  who  live  on 
the  Green  Meadows  and  in  the  Green 
Forest.  He  isn't  much  like  his  cousin, 
Miser  the  Trade  Rat." 

*'  Mah  goodness!  Do  yo'  know 
Miser?  "  exclaimed  01'  Mistah  Buz- 
zard. 

'*  Do  I  know  Miser?  I  should  say  I 
do!  "  replied  Old  Man  Coyote.  ''  I've 
tried  to  catch  him  enough  times  to 
know  him.  He  kept  a  junk  shop  very 
near  where  I  used  to  live  way  out  west. 
Do  you  know  him,  Mr.  Buzzard?  " 

**  Ah  cert'nly  does,"  chuckled  OV 
Mistah  Buzzard.  "  Ah  cert'nly  does. 
Ah  never  did  see  such  a  busy  fellow 
as  he  is.  Ah  done  see  his  junk  shop 
many  times,  and  always  it  done  be 
growin'   bigger.     Ah    wonders,    Brer 


22    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Coyote,  if  yo'  ever  heard  the  story  of 
his  Great  -  great  -  ever-  so  -  great  -  gran '  - 
daddy,  the  first  of  the  family,  and  how 
and  where  he  started  the  business 
that's  been  kept  in  the  family  ever 
since." 

"No,"  said  Old  Man  Coyote,  "I 
never  did,  and  I've  wondered  about  it 
a  great  deal." 

Peter  Rabbit  almost  forgot  that  he 
was  hiding.  He  was  so  eager  to  hear 
that  story  that  he  was  right  on  the 
point  of  speaking  up  and  begging  01' 
Mistah  Buzzard  to  tell  it  when  he  re- 
membered Old  Man  Coyote.  Just  in 
the  nick  of  time  he  clapped  a  hand  over 
his  mouth.  It  seemed  to  Peter  a  long, 
long  time  before  Old  Man  Coyote  said: 

''I'd  like  to  hear  that  story,  Mr. 
Buzzard,  if  it  isn't  too  much  to  ask  of 
you." 

"  Not  at  all,  Brer  Coyote;  not  at  all. 


WHERE  MI3ER  FIRST  SET  UP  SHOP       23 

Ah '11  be  mor'n  pleased  to  tell  it  to  jo\ 
Ah  cert'nly  will,"  said  01'  Mistali  Buz- 
zard, and  Peter  settled  himself  com- 
fortably to  listen* 

^^  To'  see  it  was  this  way,"  began 
or  Mistah  Buzzard.  ^'  Ah  got  it  from 
mah  gran 'daddy,  and  he  got  it  from  his 
gran 'daddy,  and  his  gran 'daddy  got  it 
from—" 

"  I  know,"  interrupted  Old  Man 
Coyote.  ^*  It  was  handed  down  from 
your  greatest-great-grandfather,  who 
lived  in  the  days  when  the  world  was 
young  and  what  you  are  going  to 
tell  me  about  happened.  Isn't  that 
it?" 

''  Yes,  Suh,"  repUed  01'  Mistah  Buz- 
zard. ''Yes,  Suh,  that's  it.  OP 
Mother  Nature  treat  'em  all  alike  in 
those  days.  She's  a  right  smart  busy 
person,  and  she  ain't  got  no  time  fo' 
to  answer  foolish  questions.    No,  Suh, 


24   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

she  ain't.  So,  quick  as  she  get  a  new 
kind  of  critter  made,  she  turn  him 
loose  and  tell  him  if  he  want  to  Uve  he 
got  to  be  right  smart  and  find  out  for 
hisself  how  to  do  it.  Ah  reckons  yo' 
know  all  about  that.  Brer  Coyote." 

Old  Man  Coyote  nodded,  and  OF 
Mistah  Buzzard  scratched  his  bald 
head  gently  as  if  trying  to  stir  up  his 
memory.  Peter  Rabbit  almost 
squealed  aloud  in  his  impatience  while 
he  waited  for  OP  Mistah  Buzzard  to 
go  on. 

'^  When  or  Mother  Nature  made 
Brer  Trade  Rat  in  the  beginning  and 
turned  him  loose  in  the  Great  World, 
he  was  just  plain  Mistah  Rat  and  noth- 
ing more,  same  as  his  no  'count  cousin, 
Robber  the  Brown  Rat,''  continued  01' 
Mistah  Buzzard.  *'  He  had  to  win  a 
name  for  hisself  same  as  ev'ybody  else. 
He  had  mighty  sharp  wits,  had  this 


WHERE  MISER  FIRST  SET  UP  SHOP       25 

Mistah  Rat,  and  directly  he  found  tie 
had  to  shift  for  hisseK  he  began  to 
study  and  study  and  study  what  he 
gwine  to  do  to  live  well  and  be  happy. 
He  watched  his  neighbors  to  see  what 
they  did,  and  it  didn't  take  him  long 
to  find  out  that  if  he  would  be  re- 
spected he  must  have  a  home.  Those 
without  homes  were  mostly  no  'count 
folks,  same  as  they  are  today. 

*'  So  Brer  Rat  made  a  nest  close  to 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  on  the  edge  of  the 
Green  Forest,  a  soft,  warm  nest,  and 
in  coUectin'  the  stuff  to  make  it  of  he 
learned  the  joy  of  bein'  busy.  Per- 
son'ly,  yo'  understand.  Ah  thinks  he 
was  all  wrong.  Ah  never  am  so  happy 
as  when  Ah  can  take  a  sun-bath  with 
nothin'  to  do.  But  Brer  Rat  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  was  busy, 
and  when  he  got  that  li'l  nest  finished 
time  began  to  hang  heavy  on  his  hands. 


26   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Yes,  Suh,  it  cert'nly  did.  Just  because 
he  didn't  have  anything  else  to  do  he 
began  to  add  a  little  more  to  his  house. 
One  day  he  stepped  on  a  thorn. 
'  Ouch!  '  cried  Brer  Rat,  and  then  right 
away  forgot  the  pain  in  a  new  idea. 
He  would  cover  his  house  with  thorns, 
leavin'  just  a  little  secret  entrance  for 
hisself !  Then  he  would  be  safe,  wholly 
safe  from  his  big  neighbors,  some  of 
whom  had  begun  to  look  at  hiTn  with 
such  a  hungry  look  in  their  eyes  that 
they  made  him  right  smart  uncomfort- 
able. So  he  spent  his  time,  did  Brer 
Eat,  in  huntin'  for  the  longest  and 
sharpest  thorns  and  iu  cuttin'  the 
branches  on  which  they  grew.  These 
he  carried  to  his  house  and  piled  them 
around  it  and  on  it  untU  it  had  be- 
come a  great  pile  with  sharp  thorns 
stickin'  out  in  every  direction,  and 
the  hungriest  of  the  big  people  of  the 


WHERE  MISER  FIRST  SET  UP  SHOP       27 

forest  passed  it  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance. 

"  When  Brer  Rat  had  all  the  thorns 
he  needed  and  more,  he  began  to  col- 
lect other  things  and  added  these  to 
his  pile.  Yo'  see,  he  had  found  that  it 
was  great  fun  to  collect  things;  to  find 
the  queerest  things  he  could  and  briQg 
them  home  and  look  at  them  and  won- 
der about  them.  So  little  by  little  his 
house  became  a  sort  of  junk  shop,  the 
very  first  one  in  all  the  Great  World* 
Bright  stones  and  shells,  bones,  any- 
thing that  caught  his  bright  eyes  and 
pleased  them,  he  brought  home.  When 
he  was  tired  of  huntin'  fo'  food  or 
more  strange  things  he  would  sit  and 
gloat  over  his  treasures  and  play  with 
them.  And  then  the  first  thing  he  knew 
he  had  a  name.  Yes,  Suh,  he  had  a 
name.    He  was  called  Miser. 

**  Of  course  Brer  Miser  hadn't  lived 


28    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

ve'y  long  befo'  lie  found  out  that  one 
law  of  the  Great  World  was  that  things 
belonged  to  whoever  could  get  them 
and  keep  them.  He  saw  that  some 
thought  themselves  ve'y  smart  when 
they  stole  from  their  neighbors.  Brer 
Miser  didn't  like  this  at  all.  He  was 
ve'y>  "^e'y  honest,  was  Brer  Miser. 
Perhaps  he  wasn't  really  much 
tempted,  not  fo'  a  long  time  anyway. 

*'  But  at  last  came  a  time  when  he 
was  tempted.  Quite  by  accident  he 
found  one  of  Mr.  Squirrel's  store- 
houses. In  it  were  some  nuts  different 
from  any  he  ever  had  seen  befo'. 
'  Brer  Squirrel  won't  mind  if  Ah  taste 
just  one, '  said  he,  and  did  it.  It  tasted 
good;  it  tasted  ve'y  good  indeed.  Brer 
Miser  began  to  wish  he  had  some  nuts 
like  those.  When  he  got  home  he 
couldn't  think  of  anything  but  how 
good  those  nuts  tasted.    He  knew  that 


WHERE  MISER  FIRST  SET  UP  SHOP       29 

all  he  had  to  do  was  to  watch  until 
Brer  Squirrel  was  away  and  then  go 
he'p  hisself.  He  knew  that  was  just 
what  any  of  his  neighbors  would  do  in 
his  place.  But  Brer  Miser  couldn't 
make  it  seem  just  right  any  way  he 
looked  at  it.  He  was  too  honest,  was 
Brer  Miser,  to  do  anything  like  that. 

*^  He  was  sitting  staring  at  his  treas- 
ures but  thinking  about  those  nuts 
when  an  idea  popped  into  his  head,  an 
idea  that  made  him  smile  until  Ah 
reckons  he  most  split  his  cheeks.  *  Ah 
knows  what  Ah '11  do,'  said  he.  '  Ah '11 
just  he'p  mahself  to  some  of  those  nuts 
and  Ah '11  leave  something  of  mine  in 
place  of  them.    That's  what  Ah '11  do.' 

*'  And  that's  what  he  did  do.  He 
picked  out  a  bright  shell  of  which  he 
was  very  fond  and  he  left  it  in  Brer 
Squirrel's  storehouse  to  pay  fo'  the 
nuts    that   he    took.      After    that   he 


30   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

always  helped  himself  to  anything  he 
wanted,  but  he  always  left  something 
to  pay  fo'  it.  It  wasn't  long  befo'  his 
neighbors  found  out  what  he  was  do- 
ing, and  then  they  called  him  Miser 
the  Trade  Rat.  Whenever  anybody 
found  something  he  didn't  want  Ms- 
self,  he  took  it  to  the  little  junk  shop 
of  Miser  the  Trade  Rat  and  traded  it 
fo'  something  else,  or  left  it  where 
Miser  would  find  it,  knowing  that 
Miser  would  leave  something  in  its 
place. 

'*  And  it's  been  just  so  with  Miser's 
family  ever  since.  There  is  one  Rat 
who  is  a  credit  to  his  family  instead 
of  a  disgrace,"  concluded  01'  Mistah 
Buzzard. 


m 

WHERE  YAP-YAP  THE  PRAIRIE  DOG 
USED  HIS  WITS 


m 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  THE  PRAIRIE  DOG  USED 
HIS  WITS 

PETER  RABBIT  had  just  had  a 
great  fright.  He  is  used  to 
having  great  frights,  but  this 
time  it  was  a  different  kind  of  a  fright. 
It  was  not  for  himseK  that  he  had 
been  afraid  but  for  one  of  his  old 
friends  and  neighbors.  Now  that  it 
was  over,  Peter  drew  a  little  breath  of 
sheer  relief. 

You  see  it  was  this  way:  Peter  had 
started  over  for  a  call  on  Johnny 
Chuck.  When  he  reached  Johnny 
Chuck's   house   he   found   no    one    at 


S4    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

home.  At  first  he  thought  he  would 
go  look  for  Johnny,  for  he  knew  that 
Johnny  must  be  somewhere  near,  as  he 
never  goes  far  from  his  own  doorstep. 
Then  he  changed  his  mind  and  decided 
to  wait  for  Johnny  to  return.  So  he 
stretched  himself  out  in  some  tall  grass 
beside  Johnny  Chuck's  house,  intend- 
ing to  jump  out  and  give  Johnny  a 
scare  when  he  came  home.  Hardly 
had  he  settled  himself  when  he  heard 
Johnny  coming,  and  he  knew  by  the 
sounds  that  Johnny  was  running  from 
some  danger. 

Very,  very  carefully  Peter  raised  his 
head  to  see.  Then  he  ducked  it  again 
and  held  his  breath.  Johnny  Chuck 
was  running  as  Peter  never  had  seen 
biTTi  run  before  and  with  very  good 
reason.  Just  a  few  jumps  behind 
Johnny's  twinkling  httle  black  heels 
was  Old  Man  Coyote.     It  looked  to 


WHERE  YAP- YAP  USED  HIS  WITS       35 

Peter  as  if  Old  Man  Coyote  certainly 
would  eatcli  Johnny  Chuck  this  time. 
He  was  so  frightened  for  Johnny  that 
he  quite  forgot  that  he  himself  might 
be  in  danger.  Head  first  through  his 
doorway  plxmged  Johnny,  and  Old 
Man  Coyote's  teeth  snapped  together 
on  nothing. 

Old  Man  Coyote  backed  away  a  few 
steps  and  sat  down  with  his  head  on 
one  side  as  he  studied  Johnny  Chuck's 
house  in  the  ground.  It  was  plain  to 
be  seen  that  he  was  trying  to  make  up 
his  mind  whether  it  would  be  worth 
while  to  try  to  dig  Johnny  out.  Pres- 
ently Johnny  came  half-way  up  his 
long  hall  where  he  could  look  out. 
Then  he  began  to  scold  Old  Man  Co- 
yote.   Old  Man  Coyote  grinned. 

'*  I  give  up,  Johnny  Chuck,"  said 
he.  *'  Tou  did  well  when  you  made 
your  home  between  the  roots  of  this 


36    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

old  tree.  If  it  wasn't  for  those  roots, 
I  certainly  would  dig  you  out.  As  it 
is  you  are  safe.  You  remind  me  very 
much  of  your  cousin,  Yap-Yap  the 
Prairie  Dog,  who  lives  out  where  I 
came  from.  There's  a  fellow  who  cer- 
tainly knows  how  to  make  a  house  in 
the  ground.  He  doesn't  have  to  de- 
pend on  the  roots  of  trees  to  keep  from 
being  dug  out.  Well,  I  guess  it  is  a 
waste  of  time  to  hang  around  here. 
You'll  make  just  as  good  a  dinner  some 
other  time  as  you  would  now,  so  I'll 
wait  until  then."  Old  Man  Coyote 
grinned  wickedly  and  trotted  off. 

Now  at  the  mention  of  Yap- Yap  the 
Prairie  Dog,  the  long  ears  of  Peter 
Rabbit  had  pricked  up  at  once.  It 
was  the  first  time  he  had  heard  of 
Yap- Yap,  and  when  at  last  Johnny 
Chuck  ventured  out  Peter  was  as  full 
of  questions  as  a  pea-pod  is  of  peas. 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  USED  HIS  WITS        37 

But  Johrmy  Chuck  knew  nothing  about 
his  cousin,  Yap-Tap,  and  wasn't  even 
interested  in  him.  So  finally  Peter 
left  him  and  went  back  home  to  the 
dear  Old  Briar-patch.  But  he  couldn't 
get  Tap- Yap  out  of  his  mind,  and  he 
resolved  that  the  first  chance  he  got 
he  would  ask  Old  Man  Coyote  about 
him.  The  chance  came  that  very 
night.  Old  Man  Coyote  came  along  by 
the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  and  stopped 
to  peer  in  and  grin  at  Peter.  Peter 
grinned  back,  for  he  knew  that  under 
those  friendly  brambles  he  was  quite 
safe. 

'^  I  heard  what  you  said  to  Johnny 
Chuck  about  his  cousin,  Tap-Tap," 
said  Peter. 

Old  Man  Coyote  looked  as  surprised 
as  he  felt.  ^'  Where  were  you?  "  he 
demanded  gruffly. 

Lying  flat  in  the  grass  close  by 


a 


38    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Johimy  Chuck's  house,"  replied  Peter, 
and  grinned  more  broadly  than  ever. 

''  And  to  think  I  didn't  know  it!  " 
sighed  Old  Man  Coyote.  ^'  When  I 
failed  to  catch  Johnny  Chuck,  I 
thought  I  had  missed  only  one  dinner, 
but  it  seems  I  missed  two.  Next  time 
I  shall  look  around  a  little  more 
sharply.  Do  you  know,  the  sight  of 
Johnny  Chuck  always  makes  me  home- 
sick, he  reminds  me  so  much  of  his 
cousin,  Yap-Yap,  and  the  days  when  I 
was  young." 

**  I  didn't  know  that  Johnny  Chuck 
had  a  cousin  until  you  mentioned  it," 
said  Peter.  ^*  Does  he  look  like 
Johnny?  Won't  you  tell  me  about 
him,  Mr.  Coyote?  " 

**  Seeing  that  I  haven't  anjthmg  in 
particular  to  do,  I  don't  know  but  I 
will,"  replied  Old  Man  Coyote,  who 
happened   to    be    feeling    very    good- 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  USED  HIS  WITS        39 

natured.  ^'  Many  and  many  a  time  I 
have  chased  Yap-Tap  into  his  house. 
Seems  as  if  I  can  hear  the  rascal  scold- 
ing me  and  calling  me  names  right 
this  minute.  He  used  to  get  me  so 
provoked  that  it  was  all  I  could  do  to 
keep  from  trying  to  dig  him  out.'' 

''  Why  didn't  you?  "  asked  Peter. 

^*  Because  it  would  have  meant  a 
waste  of  time,  sore  feet,  and  nothing 
to  show  for  my  trouble,"  retorted  Old 
Man  Coyote.  ^'  Yap-Tap  never  has 
forgotten  what  his  great-great-ever-so- 
great -grandfather  learned  when  he 
first  took  to  living  on  the  open 
prairie." 

''What  did  he  learn?  Tell  me 
about  it,  ]VIr.  Coyote,"  begged  Peter. 

''  He  learned  to  use  his  wits,"  re- 
plied Old  Man  Coyote,  with  a  provok- 
ing grin.  ''  He  learned  to  use  his  wits, 
that's  aU." 


40    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

**  Please  tell  me  about  it,  Mr.  Co- 
yote.   Please,"  begged  Peter. 

'^  Once  upon  a  time,"  began  Old 
Man  Coyote,  '^  so  my  grandfather  told 
me,  and  lie  got  it  from  his  grand- 
father, who  got  it  from  his  grandfather, 
who—" 

^'  I  know,"  interrupted  Peter.  **  It 
happened  in  the  days  when  the  world 
was  young." 

Old  Man  Coyote  looked  at  Peter  very 
hard  as  if  he  had  half  a  mind  not  to 
tell  the  story,  but  Peter  looked  so  in- 
nocent and  so  eager  that  he  began 
again.  ^'  Once  upon  a  time  lived  the 
great  -  great  -  ever  -  so  -  great  -  grand  - 
father  of  Yap- Yap,  the  very  first  of  all 
the  Prairie  Dogs,  and  his  name  was 
Yap- Yap  too.  He  was  own  cousin  to 
old  Mr.  Woodchuck,  who  of  course 
wasn't  old  then,  and  the  two  cousins 
looked  much  alike,  save  that  Yap- Yap 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  USED  HIS  WITS         41 

was  a  little  smaller  than  Mr.  Wood- 
chuck  and  perhaps  a  little  smarter 
looking. 

^'  From  the  very  beginning  Yap- Yap 
was  a  keen  lover  of  the  great  open 
spaces.  Trees  were  all  very  well  for 
those  who  liked  them,  but  he  preferred 
to  have  nothing  above  him  but  the 
blue,  blue  sky.  It  seemed  to  him  that 
he  never  could  find  a  big  enough  open 
space,  so  he  never  stayed  very  long  in 
any  one  place,  but  kept  pushing  on  and 
on,  looking  for  a  spot  in  the  Great 
World  that  would  just  suit  him.  At 
last  he  came  to  the  edge  of  the  Green 
Forest,  and  before  him,  as  far  as  he 
could  see,  stretched  the  Green  Mead- 
ows. At  least  it  was  like  the  Green 
Meadows,  only  a  million  thousand  times 
as  big  as  the  Green  Meadows  we  are  on 
now,  Peter,  and  was  really  the  Great 
Prairie, 


42   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

"  Yap- Yap  looked  and  looked,  then 
he  drew  a  long  breath  of  pure  joy  and 
started  out  across  the  green  grass. 
On  and  on  he  went,  until  when  he  sat 
up  and  looked  this  way  or  that  way  or 
the  other  way  he  could  see  nothing  but 
grass  and  flowers,  and  over  him  was 
naught  but  the  blue,  blue  sky.  He  had 
found  the  great  open  space  of  which 
he  had  dreamed,  and  he  was  happy. 
So  he  ate  and  slept  and  played  with 
the  Merry  Little  Breezes  and  grew  fat. 

^'  Then  one  day  came  Skimmer  the 
Swallow  and  brought  him  news  of  the 
hard  times  which  had  come  to  the  rest 
of  the  Great  World  and  how  as  a  result 
the  big  and  the  strong  were  hunting 
the  small  and  the  weak  in  order  that 
they  themselves  might  live.  When 
Skimmer  had  gone.  Yap- Yap  grew  un- 
easy. What  if  some  of  the  big  and 
strong  people  he  had  known   should 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  USED  HIS  WITS        43 

come  out  there  in  quest  of  food  and 
should  find  him?  There  was  no  place 
in  which  to  hide.  There  was  no  cave 
or  hollow  log. 

*'  Yap- Yap  looked  at  the  strong 
claws  Old  Mother  Nature  had  given 
him  and  an  idea  came  to  him.  He 
would  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground.  So 
he  dug  a  hole  on  a  long  slant  very 
much  like  the  hole  of  Johnny  Chuck; 
but  when  it  was  finished  a  little  doubt 
crept  into  his  head  and  grew  and  grew. 
What  was  to  prevent  some  one  who 
was  very  himgry  from  digging  him 
out?  So  he  moved  on  a  little  way  and 
started  another  hole,  and  this  time  he 
made  it  almost  straight  down.  Every 
day  he  made  that  hole  deeper  until  it 
was  many  feet  deep.  Then  he  made  a 
turn  in  it  and  dug  a  long  tunnel,  at 
the  end  of  which  he  hollowed  out  a 
comfortable  bedroom  and  lined  it  with 


44    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

grass.     When  it  was  finished  he  was 
quite  satisfied. 

**  '  I  don't  believe/  said  he,  ^  that 
any  one  will  have  the  patience  to  dig 
to  the  bottom  of  this.' 

'^  So  at  night  he  slept  in  his  bed  at 
the  end  of  his  long  hall  far  below  the 
surface,  but  all  day  he  spent  above 
ground,  for  he  dearly  loved  the  sun- 
shine. All  went  well  until  there  came 
a  time  of  heavy  rains.  Then  Yap- Yap 
discovered  that  the  water  ran  dowQ 
his  hole,  and  if  he  didn't  do  something, 
he  was  likely  to  be  drowned  out. 
Right  away  he  set  his  sharp  wits  to 
work.  He  noticed  that  when  the  water 
on  the  surface  reached  the  little  piles 
of  sand  he  had  made,  it  ran  around 
them.  So  he  made  a  great  mound  of 
sand  around  his  hole  with  the  entrance 
in  the  m.iddle  and  pressed  it  firm  on 
the  inside  so  that  the  rain  would  not 


WHERE  YAP-YAP  USED  HIS  WITS       45 

wash  it  down  in.  Then,  although  the 
water  stood  all  around,  it  no  longer 
ran  down  in  his  house.  In  fair  weather 
that  mound  was  a  splendid  place  on 
which  to  sit  and  watch  for  danger.  So 
once  more  Yap-Tap  was  happy  and 
care-free,  all  because  he  had  used  his 
wits. 

^^  And  from  that  day  to  this  the 
Prairie  Dogs  have  made  their  houses 
in  just  that  way,  and  no  one  that  I 
know  cares  to  try  to  dig  one  out," 
concluded  Old  Man  Coyote. 


lY 


WHERE  YELLOW-WING  GOT  HIS  LIKING 
FOR  THE  GROUND 


IV 


WHERE  YELLOW-WING  GOT  HIS  LIKING  FOR 
THE   GROUND 

PETER  RABBIT  was  hopping 
along  on  the  edge  of  the  Green 
Meadows,  looking  for  a  new 
patch  of  sweet  clover.  It  was  very 
beautiful  that  morning,  and  Peter  was 
in  the  best  of  spirits.  It  was  good  just 
to  be  alive.  Every  once  in  a  while 
Peter  would  jump  up  and  kick  his  long 
heels  together  just  from  pure  happi- 
ness. He  was  so  happy  that  he  didn't 
pay  particular  attention  to  where  he 
was  going  or  what  was  about  him. 
The  result  was  that  Peter  got  a  fright. 
Right  from  under  his  very  nose  some- 
thing sprang  out  of  the  grass  so  sud- 


50    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

denly  and  so  wholly  unexpectedly  that 
Peter  very  nearly  tumbled  over  back- 
ward. He  made  two  long  jumps  off  to 
one  side  and  then  turned  to  see  what 
had  startled  him  so.  But  all  he  saw 
was  an  old  feathered  acquaintance 
headed  towards  the  Old  Orchard.  He 
seemed  to  boimd  along  through  the  air 
much  as  Peter  bounds  along  over  the 
ground  when  he  is  in  a  hurry.  It  was 
Yellow- Wing  the  Flicker. 

Peter  grinned  and  looked  a  little 
foolish.  He  felt  a  little  foolish.  You 
know  it  always  makes  you  feel  foolish 
to  be  frightened  when  there  is  nothing 
to  be  afraid  of.  Peter  watched  Yellow- 
Wing  until  he  disappeared  among  the 
trees  of  the  Old  Orchard,  from  which 
presently  his  voice  sounded  clear  and 
loud,  and  in  it  there  was  a  mocking 
note  as  if  Yellow-Wing  were  laughing 
at  him.    Peter  suspected  that  he  was. 


YELLOW-WING'S  LIKING  FOR  GROUND    51 

But  Peter  was  feeling  too  happy  to 
miiid  being  laughed  at.  In  fact,  he 
chuckled  himself.  It  was  something  of 
a  joke  to  be  frightened  by  one  who  was 
so  wholly  harmless.  Peter  recalled 
how  many  times  he  had  frightened 
other  people  and  thought  it  the  best 
of  jokes. 

Peter  went  on  until  he  found  a  new 
patch  of  sweet  clover.  Then  he  forgot 
all  about  Yellow- Wing.  He  was  too 
busy  filling  that  big  stomach  of  his  to 
think  of  anything  else.  When  he 
couldn't  find  room  for  another  leaf  of 
clover  he  went  home  to  the  dear  Old 
Briar-patch,  and  there  in  his  favorite 
spot  he  settled  himself  to  rest  and 
think  or  dream  as  the  case  might  be. 
Presently  his  thoughts  returned  to 
Yellow- Wing,  and  he  chuckled  again  at 
the  memory  of  his  fright  that  morning. 
And  then  for  the  first  time  it  struck 


52    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Peter  as  queer  that  Yellow- Wing 
should  have  been  out  there  on  the 
Green  Meadows  on  the  ground.  He 
often  had  seen  Yellow-Wing  on  the 
ground,  but  until  that  moment  there 
never  had  seemed  anything  queer 
about  that.  Now,  however,  it  sud- 
denly came  to  Peter  that  Yellow- Wing 
belonged  in  trees,  not  on  the  ground. 

Peter  scratched  his  long  left  ear  with 
his  long  left  hind  foot,  which  was  a  sign 
that  he  was  thinking  of  something  that 
puzzled  him.  **  He  belongs  to  the 
Woodpecker  family,"  thought  Peter, 
*^  and  never  have  I  seen  any  of  his 
relatives  on  the  ground.  They  get  all 
their  food  in  the  trees.  Now  why  is 
Yellow-Wing  so  different  from  his 
relatives?  " 

The  more  Peter  thought  about  it,  the 
queerer  it  seemed  that  a  Woodpecker 
should   spend   so   much   time   on   the 


YELLOW-WING'S  LIKING  FOR  GROUND    53 

ground,  or  visit  the  ground  at  all,  for 
that  matter.  But  just  wondering  about 
it  didn't  get  him  anjn^here,  and  at  last 
Peter  decided  that  the  only  way  to  find 
out  would  be  to  ask  questions.  So 
Peter  made  up  his  mind  to  watch  for 
Yellow-Wing  and  ask  him  all  about  it 
the  first  chance  he  got. 

The  chance  came  the  very  next  day 
in  the  very  same  place  where  Peter 
had  been  so  startled.  This  time  he  was 
on  the  watch  and  saw  Yellow- Wing 
very  busy  about  something.  Peter 
stole  up  within  speaking  distance. 

''  Good  morning,  Yellow- Wing,"  said 
he.  '^  I  wonder  if  you  will  tell  me 
something.'' 

It  was  Yellow-Wing's  turn  to  be 
startled,  for  he  had  not  seen  Peter  ap- 
proaching. He  half  lifted  his  wings  to 
fly,  but  when  he  saw  who  it  was,  he 
changed  his  mind. 


S4  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

**  It  all  depends  on  what  it  is  you 
want  me  to  tell  you,"  he  replied  rather 
shortly. 

**  It  is  just  this,"  replied  Peter. 
^*  Why  do  you  spend  so  much  time  on 
the  ground?  " 

"  That's  easily  answered,"  laughed 
S'ellow-Wing.  **  I  do  it  because  it  is 
the  easiest  way  to  get  enough  to  eat." 

Peter  looked  as  surprised  as  he  felt. 
"  I  thought  that  all  your  family  got 
their  living  in  the  trees! "  he  ex- 
claimed. 

''All  do  but  me,"  replied  Yellow- 
Wing  a  wee  bit  testily.  **  But  I  don't 
have  to  do  what  they  do  just  because 
they  do  it.  No,  Siree,  I'm  independ- 
ent!   Do  you  like  ants,  Peter?  " 

'*  What?  "  exclaimed  Peter. 

**  I  asked  if  you  like  ants,"  repeated 
Yellow-Wing. 

"  IVe  never  tried  them,"  Peter  re- 


YELLOW-WING'S  LIKING  FOR  GROUND   55 

plied,  ''  but  I've  heard  Old  Mr.  Toad 
say  they  are  very  nice." 

"  They  are,"  said  Yellow- Wing. 
**  They  are  more  than  nice  —  they  are 
de-li-cious.  It  is  because  of  them  that 
I  spend  so  much  time  on  the  ground. 
Ants  changed  the  habits  of  the  Flicker 
branch  of  the  Woodpecker  family.  I 
wouldn't  be  surprised  if  we  became 
regular  ground  birds  one  of  these 
days." 

Peter  looked  puzzled.  He  kept  turn- 
ing it  over  iq  his  mind  as  he  watched 
Yellow- Wing  plunge  his  long  stout  bill 
into  an  ant  hill  and  then  gobble  up  the 
ants  as  they  came  rushing  out  to  see 
what  the  trouble  was. 

**  I  don't  see  how  ants  could  change 
the  habits  of  anybody,"  he  ventured 
after  a  while. 

Yellow- Wing's  eyes  twinkled. 
"  Why  don't  you  learn  to  eat  them?  " 


56    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  ST0RIE3 

he  demanded.  ''  If  you  would,  they 
might  change  your  habits.  The  begin- 
ning of  the  change  in  the  habits  of  my 
folks  began  a  long  time  ago." 

^^  Way  back  in  the  beginning  of 
things,  when  the  world  was  young?  " 
asked  Peter. 

'*  No,  not  quite  so  far  back  as  that," 
replied  Yellow- Wing.  '^  Great-great- 
ever-so-great-grandfather,  who  was  the 
first  Flicker,  was,  of  course,  a  member 
of  the  Woodpecker  family,  and  he  got 
his  living  in  regular  Woodpecker 
fashion.  It  never  entered  his  head  to 
look  for  food  anywhere  but  in  the 
trees,  and  I  don't  suppose  that  it  ever 
entered  his  head  to  set  foot  on  the 
ground.  It  was  the  same  with  his  chil- 
dren and  his  children's  children  for  a 
long  time. 

'*  But  though  they  lived  as  true 
Woodpeckers     should,     the     Flickers 


YELLOW-WING'S  LIKING  FOR  GROUND    67 

always  were  a  bit  sharper-witted  and 
more  independent  than  most  of  their 
relatives.  For  one  thing  they  had  dis- 
covered that  ants  were  fine  eating  and 
that  great  numbers  of  them  were  to  be 
found  running  up  and  down  the  trunks 
of  certain  trees.  So  the  Flickers  used 
to  look  for  these  trees  and  feast  on  the 
ants.  It  saved  a  lot  of  labor.  A 
stomachful  of  ants  could  be  picked 
from  the  trunk  of  a  tree  in  the  time  it 
would  take  to  dig  out  one  worm  in  the 
wood,  to  say  nothing  of  the  saving  of 
hard  work. 

'*  One  day  a  few  years  ago  my  great- 
great-great-grandfather,  so  the  story 
goes,  had  stuffed  himself  with  ants 
from  the  trunk  of  a  tree  and  had 
settled  himself  for  a  rest.  From  where 
he  sat  he  could  see  a  procession  of  ants 
going  up  and  down  the  tree,  and  he 
got  to  wondering  where  they  all  came 


58    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

from  and  where  they  all  went  to.  So 
lie  watched  and  presently  discovered 
that  that  double  line  of  ants  led  out 
along  the  ground  from  the  foot  of  the 
tree.  This  made  him  still  more  curious 
and  he  followed  it,  flying  along  just 
over  it.  He  had  gone  but  a  short  dis- 
tance when  he  came  to  a  little  mound 
of  sand,  and  there  the  line  of  ants 
ended.  Grandfather  Flicker  flew  up  in 
a  tree  from  which  he  could  look  right 
down  on  that  mound,  and  it  didn't  take 
him  long  to  discover  that  those  ants 
were  going  in  and  out  of  little  holes  in 
that  mound. 

^* '  As  I  live,  that  must  be  their 
home!  '  exclaimed  he.  '  That  place  is 
alive  with  them.  What  a  place  to  fill 
one's  stomach!  I  never  was  on  the 
ground  in  my  life,  but  the  next 
time  I'm  hungry,  I'm  going  to  see 
what  the  ground  is  Kke.    I  won't  have 


YELLOW-WING'S  LIKING  FOR  GROUND    59 

to  stay  on  it  long  to  get  my  dinner 
here. ' 

''  Grandfather  Flicker  was  as  good 
as  his  word.  When  he  was  ready  for 
another  meal,  he  flew  down  to  that  ant 
hill.  He  found  that  when  he  plunged 
his  bill  into  it,  the  ants  fairly  poured 
out  to  see  what  was  happening,  and  all 
he  had  to  do  was  to  thrust  out  his  long 
sticky  tongue  and  lick  them  up.  Never 
in  all  his  life  before  had  he  filled  his 
stomach  so  easily.  After  that,  instead 
of  wasting  time  hunting  for  worms  and 
insects  in  the  trees  where  he  could  find 
only  one  at  a  time,  Grandfather 
Flicker  kept  his  eyes  open  for  ant 
hills  on  the  ground.  He  taught  his 
children  to  do  the  same  thing.  That 
was  the  beginning  of  the  change  of 
habits  with  the  Flickers.  Ever  since 
we  have  spent  more  and  more  time  oii 
the  ground,  so  that  now  we  feel  quite 


60    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

at  home  there.  We  still  get  some  of 
our  food  in  the  trees  by  way  of  variety, 
and  we  make  our  homes  there,  but  a 
good  big  part  of  our  food  we  get  just 
as  I  am  doing  now." 

With  this  Yellow- Wing  once  more 
plunged  his  bill  into  the  ant  hill  and 
licked  up  a  dozen  ants  who  had  come 
rushing  out  to  see  what  was  going  on. 
And  so  once  more  the  curiosity  of 
Peter  Rabbit  was  satisfied,  and  he  had 
learned  something. 


WHERE  LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNED  TO 
MAKE  HAY 


WHERE  LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNED  TO  MAKE 
HAY 

NO  one  in  all  the  Great  World 
thinks  more  of  the  present 
and  less  of  the  future  than 
does  careless,  happy-go-lucky  Peter 
Rabbit.  Everybody  who  knows  Peter 
at  all  knows  that  Peter  doesn't  waste 
any  time  worrying  over  what  may  hap- 
pen in  a  day  that  may  never  be.  So 
Peter  isn't  thrifty  as  are  Happy  Jack 
Squirrel  and  Chatterer  the  Red  Squir- 
rel and  Whitefoot  the  Wood  Mouse 
and  Paddy  the  Beaver  and  Striped 
Chipmunk. 

"I've  got  enough  to  eat  today,  and 
enough  is  enough,  so  what  is  the  use 


64   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

of  working  when  I  don't  have  to?  " 
says  Peter.  '*  I  don't  believe  in  work- 
ing today  so  that  I  won't  have  to  work 
tomorrow,  because  when  tomorrow 
comes  there  may  be  no  need  of  work- 
ing, and  then  I  would  feel  that  I  had 
wasted  all  this  good  time  today."  No, 
Peter  isn't  the  least  bit  thrifty. 

It  is  the  same  way  with  Peter's  big 
cousin,  Jumper  the  Hare.  The  truth 
is  the  whole  family  is  happj^-go-lucky. 
Happy  Jack  Squirrel  says  that  every 
blessed  one  of  them  is  shiftless.  It 
does  look  that  way.  It  is  a  pity  that 
Peter  and  Jumper  never  have  learned 
a  lesson  from  Little  Chief  Hare,  who 
is  commonly  supposed  to  be  a  relative 
of  theirs,  although,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  is  neither  a  Hare  nor  a  Rabbit,  but 
is  a  Pika,  which  is  another  family 
altogether.  He  is  also  called  a  Coney 
and  sometimes  the  Calling  Hare.    But 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY    65 

if  you  want  sure-enough  proof  that  he 
is  neither  a  Rabbit  nor  a  Hare,  just 
watch  him,  if  you  are  lucky  enough  to 
have  a  chance,  cut  and  dry  and  store 
away  a  great  pile  of  hay  for  winter  use. 
No  true  member  of  Peter's  family  ever 
would  think  of  doing  such  a  thing  as 
that,  more  is  the  pity. 

Peter  never  has  seen  Little  Chief, 
because  Little  Chief  lives  high  up  on  a 
mountain  of  the  Far  West  among  the 
rocks  where  Peter  would  never  go, 
even  if  he  could,  but  he  has  heard  all 
about  him.  Old  Man  Coyote  told  him 
all  about  him,  and  he  got  the  story 
from  his  grandfather,  who  got  it  from 
his  grandfather,  who  had  one  time 
visited  the  great  mountain  where  Little 
Chief's  ever-so-great-grandfather  lived 
in  the  very  place  where  Little  Chief 
lives  now.  Old  Man  Coyote  had  chased 
Peter  into  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch 


66    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

one  cold  winter  day,  and  as  lie  peered 
through  the  brambles  at  Peter  he 
noticed  that  Peter  was  very  thin,  very 
thin  indeed.    Old  Man  Coyote  grinned. 

**  I'm  just  as  well  pleased  not  to 
have  caught  you  this  time,  Peter,'' 
said  he.  ''  You  wouldn't  make  much 
of  a  dinner  just  now.  When  I  dine  I 
want  something  more  than  skin  and 
bones.  It  must  be  that  you  are  having 
as  hard  work  as  I  am  to  get  a  living 
these  days." 

''I  am,"  replied  Peter.  "  With  all 
this  snow  and  ice  on  the  ground,  there 
is  nothing  to  eat  but  bark  and  such 
tender  twigs  as  I  can  reach,  and  they 
are  not  very  filling.  But  they'll  keep 
me  alive  until  better  times  come,  and 
then  perhaps  I'll  get  fat  enough  to 
suit  you."    It  was  Peter's  turn  to  grin. 

Old  Man  Coyote  grinned  back  good- 
naturedly.     '*  I  should  think,  Peter/' 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY    67 

said  he,  '^  that  when  there  is  so  much 
sweet  grass  and  clover  in  the  summer, 
you  would  make  some  of  it  into  hay 
and  store  it  away  for  winter,  as  Little 
Chief  Hare  does.  There's  the  thrifty 
little  hay-maker  for  you!  " 

^*  Who  is  Little  Chief,  and  where  did 
he  learn  to  make  hay?  "  demanded 
Peter,  his  ears  standing  straight  up 
with  curiosity. 

Old  Man  Coyote  likes  to  tell  a  story 
once  in  a  while,  and  having  nothing 
else  to  do  just  then,  he  sat  down  just 
outside  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  and 
told  Peter  all  about  Little  Chief  and 
his  hay-making. 

*^  Of  course,"  said  he,  *'  Little 
Chief's  father  taught  him  how  to  make 
hay,  and  his  father's  father  taught  him, 
and  so  on  way  back  to  the  days  when 
the  world  was  young  and  Old  Mother 
Nature  made  the  first  Pika  or  Coney, 


68    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

whichever  you  please  to  call  him,  and 
set  him  free  on  a  great  mountain  to 
prove  whether  he  was  worthy  to  live 
or  was  so  helpless  that  there  was  no 
place  for  him  in  the  Great  World. 
Now  Mr.  Pika,  who  was  promptly 
called  Little  Chief,  no  one  remembers 
now  just  why,  was  exactly  like  Little 
Chief  of  today.  He  was  just  about  a 
fourth  as  big  as  you,  Peter.  Li  fact, 
he  looked  a  lot  like  one  of  your  babies, 
excepting  his  legs  and  his  ears.  His 
legs  were  short  and  rather  weak,  and 
his  ears  were  short  and  rounded.  He 
was  very  gentle  and  timid.  He  had 
neither  the  kind  of  teeth  and  claws  for 
fighting  nor  long  legs  for  running 
away,  and  it  did  seem  as  if  Little 
Chief's  chances  of  a  long  life  and  a 
happy  one  were  very  slim  indeed,  espe- 
cially as  it  happened  that  he  was  set 
free  to  shift  for  himself  just  at  the 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY    69 

beginning  of  the  hard  times,  when  the 
big  and  strong  had  begun  to  hunt  the 
small  and  weak. 

'*  For  a  while  Little  Chief  had  a  hard 
time  of  it  and  so  many  narrow  escapes 
that  his  heart  was  in  his  mouth  most 
of  the  time.  In  trying  to  keep  out  of 
the  way  of  his  enemies  he  kept  climb- 
ing higher  and  higher  up  the  moun- 
tain, for  the  higher  he  got  the  fewer 
enemies  he  found.  At  last  he  came  to 
a  big  rock-slide  above  where  the  trees 
grew,  and  where  there  was  nothing  but 
broken  stone  and  big  rocks.  The  sun 
lay  there  very  warm,  and  Little  Chief 
crept  out  among  the  stones  to  take  a 
sim-bath;  as  he  squatted  there  it  would 
have  taken  keen  eyes  indeed  to  tell 
him  from  a  stone  himseK,  though  he 
didn't  know  this. 

'*  After  he  had  had  a  good  rest,  and 
jolly  Mr.  Sun  had  moved  so  that  Little 


70    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

CMef  was  no  longer  in  the  warm  rays, 
Little  Chief  decided  to  look  about  a 
little.  It  didn't  take  him  long  to  dis- 
cover that  there  were  wonderful  little 
winding  galleries  and  hiding-places 
down  among  the  stones.  These  led  to 
little  cracks  and  caves  deep  down  in 
the  mountain  side.  Little  Chief  was 
tickled  almost  to  death. 

** '  This  is  the  place  for  me! '  he 
cried.  '  No  one  ever  will  think  to  look 
for  me  up  here,  and  if  they  should 
they  couldn't  find  me,  for  no  one,  not 
even  King  Bear,  could  pull  away  these 
stones  fast  enough  to  catch  me.  All 
day  long  I  can  enjoy  the  sun,  and  at 
night  I  can  sleep  in  perfect  safety  in 
one  of  these  little  caves.' 

*'  So  Little  Chief  made  his  home  in 
the  rock-slide  high  up  on  the  moun- 
tain and  was  happy,  for  it  was  just 
as  he  thought  it  would  be  —  no  one 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY    71 

thought  of  looking  in  that  bare  place 
for  him.  For  food  he  ate  the  pea  vines 
and  grasses  and  other  green  things  that 
grew  just  at  the  edge  of  the  rock-slide 
and  was  perfectly  happy.  One  day  he 
decided  he  would  take  some  of  his  din- 
ner into  his  little  cave  and  eat  it 
there.  So  he  cut  a  little  bundle  of  pea 
vine  and  other  green  things.  He  left 
his  little  bundle  on  a  flat  rock  in  the 
sun  while  he  went  to  look  for  some- 
thing else  and  then  forgot  all  about  it. 
It  didn't  enter  his  head  again  until  a 
few  days  later  he  happened  along  by 
that  flat  rock  and  discovered  that  little 
bundle.  The  pea  vines  and  grasses 
were  quite  dry,  just  like  the  hay 
Farmer  Brown's  boy  helps  his  father 
store  away  in  the  bam  every  summer. 
*'  ^  I  guess  I  don't  want  to  eat  that/ 
said  Little  Chief,  '  but  it  will  make  me 
a  very  nice  bed. '    So  he  carried  it  home 


72    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

and  made  a  bed  of  it.  There  wasn't 
quite  enougli,  so  tlie  next  day  lie  cut 
some  more  and  carried  it  home  at  once. 
But  this,  being  green,  soon  soured  and 
smelled  so  badly  that  he  was  forced  to 
take  it  out  and  throw  it  away.  That 
set  him  to  thinking.  Why  was  the  first 
he  had  brought  in  so  dry  and  sweet 
and  pleasant?  Why  didn't  it  spoil  as 
the  other  had  done?  He  cut  some 
more  and  spread  it  out  on  the  big  flat 
rock  and  once  again  he  forgot.  When 
he  remembered  and  went  to  look  at  it 
two  or  three  days  later,  he  found  it 
just  like  the  first,  dry  and  sweet  and 
very  pleasant  to  smell.  This  he  took 
home  to  add  to  his  bed.  Then  he  took 
home  some  more  that  was  green,  and 
this  spoiled  just  as  the  other  had  done. 
'*  Little  Chief  was  puzzling  over  this 
as  he  squatted  on  a  rock  taking  a  sun- 
bath.     The   sun  was  very  warm   and 


Little  Chief's  father  taught  him  how  to 
make  hay. ' ' 

67. 


i 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY    73 

comforting.  After  a  while  the  rock  on 
which  he  sat  grew  ahnost  hot.  Little 
Chief  had  brought  along  a  couple  of 
pieces  of  pea  vine  on  which  to  lunch, 
but  not  being  hungry  he  left  them  be- 
side him  on  the  rock.  By  and  by  he 
happened  to  glance  at  them.  They  had 
wilted  and  already  they  were  begin- 
ning to  dry.  An  idea  popped  into  his 
fimny  little  head. 

*'  *  It's  the  sun  that  does  it! '  he 
cried. 

*^  Up  he  jumped  and  scampered 
away  to  cut  some  more  and  spread  it 
out  on  the  rocks.  Then  he  discovered 
that  the  pea  vine  which  he  spread  in 
the  sun  dried  as  he  wanted  it  to,  while 
any  that  happened  to  be  left  in  the 
shadow  of  a  rock  didn't  dry  so  well. 
He  had  learned  how  to  make  hay.  He 
was  the  first  hay-maker  in  the  Great 
World.      He    soon    had    more    than 


74    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

enough  for  a  bed,  but  be  kept  on  mak- 
ing bay  and  storing  it  away  just  for 
fun.  Then  came  cold  weather  and  all 
the  green  things  died.  There  was  no 
food  for  Little  Chief.  He  hunted  and 
hunted,  but  there  was  nothing.  Then 
because  he  was  so  hungry  he  began  to 
nibble  at  his  hay.  It  tasted  good,  very 
good  indeed.  It  tasted  almost  as  good 
as  the  fresh  green  things.  Little 
Chief's  heart  gave  a  great  leap.  He 
had  food  in  plenty!  He  had  nothing  to 
worry  about,  for  his  hay  would  last 
him  until  the  green  things  came  again, 
as  come  they  would,  he  felt  sure. 

*'  And  so  it  proved.  And  that  is 
how  Little  Chief  the  Pika  learned  to 
make  hay  while  the  sun  shone  in  the 
days  of  plenty.  He  taught  his  children 
and  they  taught  their  children,  and 
Little  Chief  of  today  does  it  Just  as 
his    great-  great  -  ever-  so  -  great  -  grand- 


LITTLE  CHIEF  LEARNS  TO  MAKE  HAY   75 

daddy  did.  I  don't  see  why  you  don't 
do  the  same  thing,  Peter.  You  would 
make  me  a  great  deal  finer  dinner  if 
you  did.'' 

'*  Perhaps    that    is    the    reason    I 
don't,"  replied  Peter  with  a  grin. 


VI 


WHERE  GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE  GOT 
HIS  NAME 


VI 


WHERE  GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE  GOT  HIS 

NAME 

GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE 
is  a  dweller  in  the  depths  of 
the  Great  Forests  of  the  Far 
North,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  Peter  Rab- 
bit would  ever  have  known  that  there 
is  such  a  person  but  for  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Honker  the  Goose,  who 
spends  his  summers  in  the  Far  North, 
but  each  spring  and  fall  stops  over  for 
a  day  or  two  in  a  little  pond  in  the 
Green  Forest,  a  pond  Peter  often 
visits.  This  acquaintance  with  Honker 
and  Peter's  everlasting  curiosity  have 
resulted  in  many  strange  stories.    At 


80   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

least  they  have  seemed  strange  to 
Peter  because  they  have  been  about 
furred  and  feathered  people  whom 
Peter  has  never  seen.  And  one  of  the 
strangest  of  these  is  the  story  of  how 
Glutton  the  Wolverine  got  his  name. 

Of  course  you  know  what  a  glutton 
is.  It  is  one  who  is  very,  very,  very 
greedy  and  eats  and  eats  as  if  eating 
were  the  only  thing  in  life  worth  while. 
It  is  one  who  is  all  the  time  thinking 
of  his  stomach.  No  one  likes  to  be 
called  a  glutton.  So  when  Honker  the 
Goose  happened  to  mention  Glutton,  it 
caused  Peter  to  prick  up  his  ears  at 
once. 

''  Who's  a  glutton?  "  he  demanded. 

**  I  didn't  say  any  one  was  a  glut- 
ton," replied  Honker.  ^'  I  was  speak- 
ing of  Glutton  the  Wolverine  who  lives 
in  the  Great  Forests  of  the  Far  North, 
and  whom  everybody  hates." 


GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE'S  NAME     81 

"  Is  Glutton  his  name?  ''  asked  Peter, 
wrinkling  his  brows  in  perplexity,  for 
it  seemed  a  very  queer  name  for  any 
one. 

'*  Certainly,"  replied  Honker. 
^'  Certainly  that  is  his  name,  and  a 
very  good  name  for  him  it  is.  But 
then  of  course  it  is  because  he  is  a  glut- 
ton that  he  is  named  Glutton.  Rather 
I  should  say  that  is  the  reason  the  first 
Wolverine  was  named  Glutton.  The 
name  has  been  handed  down  ever  since, 
and  it  fits  Mr.  Wolverine  of  today 
quite  as  well  as  ever  it  did  his  great- 
great-ever-so-great-grandfather.  ' ' 

*^  Tell  me  about  it,"  Peter  begged. 
**  Please  tell  me  about  it." 

"  Tell  you  about  what? "  asked 
Honker,  pretending  not  to  understand. 

^*  About  how  the  first  Wolverine 
got  the  name  of  Glutton,"  replied 
Peter  promptly.     ''  There  must  have 


82    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

been  a  very  good  reason,  and  if  there 
was  a  very  good  reason,  there  must  be 
a  story.  Please,  Honker,  tell  me  all 
about  it." 

Honker  swam  a  little  way  out  from 
shore,  and  with  head  held  high  and 
very  still,  he  looked  and  listened  and 
listened  and  looked  until  he  was  quite 
certain  that  no  danger  lurked  near. 
Then  he  swam  back  to  where  Peter 
was  sitting  on  the  bank. 

*^  Peter,"  said  he,  ^*  I  never  in  all 
my  born  days  have  seen  such  a  fellow 
for  questions  as  you  are.  If  I  lived 
about  here,  I  think  I  should  swim  away 
every  time  I  saw  you  coming.  But  as 
I  only  stop  here  for  a  day  or  two  twice 
a  year,  I  guess  I  can  stand  it.  Besides, 
you  really  ought  to  know  something 
about  some  of  the  people  who  live  in 
the  Great  Forest.  It  is  shameful, 
Peter,  that  you  should  be  so  ignorant. 


GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE'S  NAME     83 

And  so  if  you  will  promise  not  to  ask 
for  another  story  while  I  am  here,  I 
will  tell  you  about  Glutton  the  Wolver- 
ine/' 

Of  course  Peter  promised.  He 
wanted  that  story  so  much  that  he 
would  have  promised  anything.  So 
Honker  told  the  story,  and  here  it  is 
just  as  Peter  heard  it. 

''  Once  upon  a  time  long,  long,  long 
ago,  the  first  Wolverine  was  sent  out 
to  find  a  place  for  himself  in  the  Great 
World  just  as  every  one  else  had  been 
sent  out.  Old  Mother  Nature  had  told 
him  that  he  was  related  to  Mr.  Weasel 
and  Mr.  Mink  and  Mr.  Fisher  and  Mr. 
Skunk,  but  no  one  would  have  guessed 
it  just  to  look  at  him.  In  fact,  some 
of  his  new  neighbors  were  inclined  to 
think  that  he  was  related  to  Old  King 
Bear.  Certainly  he  looked  more  like 
King  Bear  than  he  did  like  little  Mr. 


84    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Weasel.  But  for  his  bushy  tail  he 
would  have  looked  still  more  like  a 
member  of  the  Bear  family.  He  was 
clumsy-looking.  He  was  rather  slow 
moving,  but  he  was  strong,  very  strong 
for  his  size.  And  he  had  a  mean  dis- 
position. Yes,  Sir,  Mr.  Wolverine  had 
a  mean  disposition.  He  had  such  a 
mean  disposition  that  he  w^ould  snarl 
at  his  own  reflection  in  a  pool  of  water. 
*'  Now  you  know  as  well  as  I  do 
that  no  one  with  a  mean  disposition 
has  any  friends.  It  was  so  with  Mr. 
Wolverine.  When  his  neighbors  found 
out  what  a  mean  disposition  he  had, 
they  let  him  severely  alone.  They 
would  go  out  of  their  way  to  avoid 
meeting  him.  This  made  his  disposi- 
tion all  the  meaner.  He  didn't  really 
care  because  his  neighbors  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  him.  No,  he  didn't 
really  care,  for  the  simple  reason  that 


GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE'S  NAME     85 

he  didn't  want  anything  to  do  with 
them.  But  just  the  same  it  made  him 
angry  to  have  them  show  that  they 
didn't  want  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  him.  Every  time  he  would  see 
one  of  them  turn  aside  to  avoid  meet- 
ing him,  he  would  snarl  under  his 
breath,  and  his  eyes  would  glow  with 
anger;  he  would  resolve  to  get  even. 

*'  Being  slow  in  his  movements  be- 
cause of  his  stout  build,  he  early  real- 
ized that  he  must  make  nimble  wits 
make  up  for  the  lack  of  nimble  legs. 
He  also  learned  very  early  in  life  that 
patience  is  a  virtue  few  possess,  and 
that  patience  and  nimble  wits  will  ac- 
complish almost  anything.  So,  living 
alone  in  the  Great  Forest,  he  practised 
patience  until  no  one  in  all  the  Great 
World  could  be  more  patient  than  he. 
No  one  knew  this  because,  you  see, 
everybody  kept  away  from  him.    And 


86    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

ail  the  time  he  was  practising  patience, 
he  was  studying  and  studying  the  other 
people  of  the  Great  Forest,  both  large 
and  small,  learning  all  their  habits, 
how  they  lived,  where  they  lived,  what 
they  ate,  and  all  about  them. 

'^  '  One  never  knows  when  such 
knowledge  may  be  useful,'  he  would 
say  to  himself.  *  The  more  I  know 
about  other  people  and  the  less  they 
know  about  me  the  better.' 

'*  So  Mr.  Wolverine  kept  out  of 
sight  as  much  as  possible,  and  none 
knew  how  he  lived  or  where  he  lived 
or  anything  about  him  save  that  he 
had  a  mean  disposition.  Patiently  he 
watched  the  other  people,  especially 
those  of  nimble  wits  who  lived  largely 
by  their  cunning  and  cleverness  —  Mr. 
Fox,  Mr.  Coyote,  Mr.  Lynx  and  his 
own  cousins,  Mr.  Mink  and  Mr.  Weasel. 
From  each  one  he  learned  something, 


GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE'S  NAME     87 

and  at  last  he  was  more  cunning  and 
more  clever  than  any  of  them  or  even 
than  all  of  them,  for  that  matter. 

^*  Living  alone  as  he  did,  and  having 
a  mean  disposition,  he  grew  more  and 
more  sullen  and  savage  until  those  who 
at  first  had  avoided  him  simply  be- 
cause of  his  mean  disposition  now  kept 
out  of  his  way  through  fear,  for  his 
claws  were  long  and  his  strength  was 
great  and  his  teeth  were  sharp.  It 
didn't  take  him  long  to  discover  that 
there  were  few  who  did  not  fear  himj 
and  he  cunningly  contrived  to  increase 
this  fear,  for  he  had  a  feeling  that  the 
time  might  come  when  it  would  be  of 
use  to  him. 

**  The  time  did  come.  As  you  know, 
there  came  a  time  when  food  was 
scarce,  and  everybody,  or  almost  every- 
body, had  hard  work  to  get  enough  to 
keep    alive.      Mr.    Wolverine    didn't. 


88    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

The  fact  is,  Mr.  Wolverine  lived  very 
well  indeed.  He  simply  reaped  the  re- 
ward of  his  patience  in  learning  all 
ab,out  the  ways  of  his  neighbors,  of  his 
nimble  wits  and  of  the  fear  which  he 
inspired.  Instead  of  hunting  for  food 
himself,  he  depended  on  his  neighbors 
to  hunt  for  him.  They  didn't  know 
they  were  hunting  for  him,  but  some- 
how whenever  one  of  them  had  secured 
a  good  meal,  Mr.  Wolverine  was  almost 
sure  to  happen  along.  A  growl  from 
him  was  enough,  and  that  meal  was 
left  in  his  possession. 

"  Knowing  how  scarce  food  was  and 
the  uncertainty  of  when  he  would  get 
the  next  meal,  Mr.  Wolverine  alwavs 
made  it  a  point  on  these  occasions  to 
stuff  himself  until  it  was  a  wonder  his 
skin  didn't  burst.  If  there  was  more 
than  he  could  eat,  he  would  take  a  nap 
right   there,   and   because   of  fear   of 


GLUTTON  THE  WOLVERINE'S  NAME      89 

him  the  rightful  owner  of  the  food 
would  not  dare  take  what  was  left. 
When  he  awoke  Mr.  Wolverine  would 
finish  what  remained. 

**  Those  who  secured  more  food  than 
they  could  eat  and  tried  to  store  away 
the  rest  found  that  no  matter  how  cun- 
ningly they  chose  a  hiding-place  for  it 
and  covered  their  tracks,  Mr.  Wolver- 
ine was  sure  to  find  it.  In  fact,  he 
made  a  business  of  robbing  store- 
houses, and  the  habit  of  greediness  be- 
came so  strong  that  he  would  stuff 
himself  at  one  storehouse  and  immedi- 
ately start  for  another.  When  it  did 
happen  that  he  couldn't  eat  all  he 
found  and  yet  didn't  want  to  stay  until 
he  could  finish  it,  he  would  tear  to 
bits  all  that  remained  and  scatter  it 
all  about.  Tou  know  I  told  you  he  had 
a  mean  disposition. 

^^  Even  when   good  times   returned 


90     MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE   STORIES 

and  there  was  no  possible  excuse  for 
such  greed,  Mr.  Wolverine  continued 
to  stuff  himself  until  it  seemed  that 
instead  of  eating  in  order  to  live,  as 
the  rest  of  us  do,  he  lived  in  order  to 
eat.  Of  course  it  wasn't  long  before 
some  one  called  him  a  glutton,  and  pres- 
ently he  was  named  Glutton,  and  no 
one  called  him  anything  else.  Glutton 
by  name  and  a  glutton  in  habit  he  re- 
mained as  long  as  he  lived.  Both  name 
and  habits  he  handed  down  to  his  chil- 
dren and  they  to  their  children.  So  it 
is  that  today  there  is  no  more  cunning 
thief,  no  greedier  rascal,  and  no  one 
with  a  meaner  disposition  in  all  the 
Great  Woods  of  the  Far  North  than 
Glutton  the  Wolverine." 

'^  Queer  how  a  habit  will  stick,  isn't 
it?  "  said  Peter  thoughtfully. 

^'  Particularly  a  bad  habit,"  added 
Honker. 


vn 

WHERE  OLD  MRS.   'GATOR  MADE  THE 
FIRST  INCUBATOR 


vn 

WHERB  OLD  MRS.  »GATOR  MADB  THE  FIRST 
INCUBATOR 

PETER  RABBIT  and  Mrs.  Quack 
the  Mallard  Duck  are  great 
friends.  They  have  been  great 
friends  ever  since  Peter  tried  to  help 
Mrs.  Quack  when  she  and  Mr.  Quack 
had  spent  a  whole  summer  on  a  little 
pond  hidden  deep  in  the  Green  Forest 
because  Mr.  Quack  had  a  broken  wing 
and  so  he  and  Mrs.  Quack  simply 
couldn't  keep  on  to  their  home  in  the 
Far  North  for  which  they  had  started. 
During  that  long  summer  Peter  had 
become  very  well  acquainted  with 
them.  In  fact  he  visited  them  very 
often,  for  as  you  know,  Peter  is  simply 


94  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

brimming  over  with  curiosity,  and 
there  were  wonderful  things  which 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack  could  tell  him,  for 
they  are  great  travelers. 

Now  once,  as  Mrs.  Quack  was  telling 
Peter  about  the  far-away  Southland 
where  she  and  Mr.  Quack  and  many 
other  birds  spend  each  winter,  she 
mentioned  Old  Ally  the  'Gator.  Peo- 
ple who  live  where  he  does  call  him 
just  'Gator,  but  you  and  I  would  call 
him  Alligator. 

At  the  mention  of  Old  Ally,  all 
Peter's  curiosity  was  awakened,  for 
Mrs.  Quack  had  said  that  foolish  young 
ducks  sometimes  mistook  him  for  an 
old  log  floating  in  the  water  and  didn't 
find  out  the  difference  until  his  great 
mouth  flew  open  and  he  swallowed  them 
whole.  At  that  Peter's  eyes  threat- 
ened to  pop  right  out  of  his  head  and 
every  time  he  visited  that  little  pond 


OLD  MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR         95 

he  pestered  Mrs.  Quack  with  questions 
about  Old  Ally  the  'Gator  and  Mrs. 
'Gator.  It  seemed  as  if  he  couldn't 
think  of  anything  else.  And  when 
Mrs.  Quack  just  happened  to  mention 
that  little  'Gators  are  hatched  from 
6ggs  just  as  her  own  children  are,  it 
was  almost  too  much  for  Peter  to  be- 
lieve. 

**  What?  "  he  squealed,  hopping  up 
and  down  in  excitement.  '*  Do  you 
mean  to  tell  me  that  anything  as  big 
as  Old  Ally,  big  enough  to  swallow 
you  whole,  can  come  from  an  egg?  I 
don't  believe  it!  Besides,  only  birds 
lay  eggs.' 


>? 


**  Quack,   quack,   quack,   quack,   quack,   quack, 
quack, 
Peter,  you  must  take  that  back !  * ' 

cried  Mrs.  Quack. 

'*  Why  must  I  take  it  back?  "  de- 
manded Peter. 


96    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

**  Because  as  usual  you've  let  your 
tongue  run  loose,  and  that  is  a  bad 
habit,  Peter.  It  certainly  is  a  bad 
habit.    How  about  the  Snake  family?  '^ 

**  OhI "  said  Peter,  looking  very 
foolish.  ^'  I  forgot  all  about  the 
Snakes.    They  do  lay  eggs." 

''  And  how  about  Spotty  the  Turtle? 
Didn't  he  come  from  an  egg?  "  per- 
sisted Mrs.  Quack. 

Peter  looked  more  foolish  than  be- 
fore, if  that  were  possible.  *^  T-e-s," 
he  replied  slowly  and  reluctantly. 

'*  Then  don't  be  so  quick  to  doubt  a 
thing  just  because  you've  never  seen 
it,"  retorted  Mrs.  Quack.  *'  I've  seen 
Mrs.  'Gator  build  her  nest  more  than 
once,  and  I've  seen  her  eggs,  and  I've 
seen  the  baby  'Gators;  and  what 
is  more,  I'm  not  in  the  habit  of 
telling  things  that  I  don't  know  are 
so.'^ 


OLD  MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR  97 

**  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mrs.  Quack." 
Peter  was  very  humble.  **  I  do  indeei 
Please  forgive  me.  Is  —  is  Mra 
'Gator's  nest  at  all  like  yours?  " 

Peter  seemed  so  truly  sorry  for  hav- 
ing doubted  her  that  Mrs.  Quack  re- 
covered her  good  nature  at  once. 
''  No/'  said  she,  ''  it  isn't.  If  I  hadn't 
seen  her  make  it,  I  wouldn't  have 
known  it  was  a  nest.  You  see,  one 
spring  I  got  hurt  so  that  I  couldn't 
take  my  usual  long  journey  to  the  Far 
North  and  had  to  spend  the  summer 
way  down  in  the  Southland  where 
I  always  lived  in  the  winter,  and  that 
is  how  I  happened  to  learn  about  Mrs. 
'Gator's  nest  and  eggs  and  a  lot  of 
other  things.  Mrs.  'Gator  is  lazy,  but 
she  is  smart.  She's  smart  enough  to 
make  Mr.  Sun  do  her  work.  What  do 
you  think  of  that?  " 

Eight  away  Peter  was  all   excite- 


98    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

ment.  You  see,  that  sounded  as  if 
there  might  be  a  story  behind  it.  ^*  I 
never  have  heard  of  such  a  thing!"  he 
cried.  ^*  How  did  she  learn  to  do  such  a 
smart  thing  as  that?  Of  course  I  don't 
for  a  minute  believe  that  she  herself  dis- 
covered a  way  to  get  Mr.  Sun  to  work 
for  her.  Probably  it  was  her  ever-so- 
great-grandmother  who  first  did  it. 
Isn't  that  so,  Mrs.  Quack?  " 

Mrs.  Quack  nodded.  ^*  You've 
guessed  it,  Peter,"  said  she.  **  It  aU 
happened  way,  way  back  in  the  days 
when  the  world  was  young." 

'*  Tell  me  about  it!  Please,  please 
tell  me  about  it,  Mrs.  Quack,  and  the 
first  chance  I  get,  I'll  do  something  for 
you,"  begged  Peter. 

Mrs.  Quack  carefully  went  over  all 
her  feathers  to  see  that  every  one  was 
in  place,  for  she  is  very  particular 
about  how  she  looks.    When  she  was 


OLD   MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR      99 

quite  satisfied,  she   turned  to  Peter, 
fidgeting  on  the  bank. 

*'  Way  back  in  the  days  when  the 
world  was  young/'  said  she,  **  Old 
Mother  Nature  made  the  first  Alli- 
gators before  she  made  the  first  birds^ 
or  the  first  animals,  so  Old  Ally  and 
Mrs.  'Gator,  who  live  way  down  south 
now,  belong  to  a  very  old  family  and 
are  proud  of  it.  In  the  beginning  of 
things  there  was  very  little  dry  land, 
as  you  may  have  heard,  so  old  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  'Gator,  who  of  course  were 
not  old  then,  were  made  to  live  in  the 
water  with  the  fish.  Old  Mother 
Nature  was  experimenting  then.  She 
was  planning  to  make  a  great  deal 
more  land,  and  she  wanted  living  crea- 
tures on  it,  so  she  gave  the  'Gators  legs 
and  feet  instead  of  fins,  and  lungs  to 
breathe  air  instead  of  gills  for  breath- 
ing in  the  water  as  fish  do.    Then,  hav- 


100  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

ing  many  other  things  to  attend  to,  she 
told  them  they  would  have  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  and  went  about  her 
business. 

*'  It  didn't  take  Mr.  and  Mrs.  'Gator 
long  to  discover  that  their  legs  were 
not  of  much  use  in  the  water,  for  they 
used  their  powerful  tails  for  swim- 
ming. Then  one  day  Mrs.  'Gator 
crawled  out  on  land  and  right  away 
discovered  what  those  legs  were  for. 
She  could  go  on  dry  land  while  fishes 
could  not.  It  didn't  take  her  long  to 
find  out  that  nothing  was  quite  so  fine 
as  a  sun- :ath,  as  she  lay  stretched  out 
on  the  bank,  so  she  and  Mr.  'Gator 
spent  most  of  their  time  on  simny  days 
taking  sun-baths. 

'*  One  day  Old  Mother  Nature  came 
along  and  whispered  a  wonderful 
secret  to  Mrs.  'Gator.  *  I  am  going  to 
give  you  some  eggs,'  whispered  Old 


OLD  MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR     101 

Mother  Nature,  *  some  eggs  of  your 
very  own,  and  if  you  watch  over  them 
and  keep  them  warm,  out  of  each  one 
a  baby  'Gator  will  some  day  creep. 
But  if  you  let  those  eggs  get  cold,  there 
will  be  no  babies.  Don't  forget  that 
you  must  keep  them  warm.' 

*'  Old  Mother  Nature  was  as  good 
as  her  word.  She  gave  Mrs.  'Gator 
twenty  beautiful  white  eggs,  and  Mrs. 
'Gator  was  perfectly  happy.  Those 
eggs  were  the  most  precious  things  in 
all  the  Great  World.  It  seemed  as  if 
she  never  would  grow  tired  of  looking 
at  them  and  admiring  them  and  of 
dreaming  of  the  day  when  her  babies 
should  come  out  of  them.  It  was  very 
pleasant  to  lie  there  in  the  sun  and 
dream  of  the  babies  to  come  from  those 
wonderful  eggs.  Suddenly,  right  into 
the  midst  of  those  pleasant  dreams, 
broke  the  memory  of  what  Old  Mother 


102  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Nature  had  said  about  keeping  those 
eggs  warm.  All  in  a  twinkling  happi- 
ness was  turned  to  worry. 

'' '  What  can  I  do?  What  can  I 
do?  '  Mrs.  'Gator  kept  saying  over  and 
over.  *  However  can  I  keep  them 
warm  when  Mr.  Sun  goes  to  bed  at 
night?  Oh,  dear!  Oh,  dear!  My  beau- 
tiful eggs  never,  never  will  turn  to  dar- 
ling babies!    What  can  I  do?  ' 

**  All  this  time  Mr.  'Gator  was  a 
great  deal  more  interested  in  making 
himself  comfortable  than  he  was  in 
those  eggs.  He  had  picked  out  a  place 
where  all  day  long  Mr.  Sim  poured 
down  his  warmest  rays,  and  he  had 
dug  a  place  to  sprawl  out  in  comfort- 
ably. The  sand  he  had  thrown  in  a 
pile  at  one  side.  When  Mrs.  'Gator 
went  to  consult  Mr.  'Gator  about  those 
precious  eggs  and  her  worries  when 
the  cool  of  evening  had  come,  she  hap- 


I 


OLD  MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR     103 

pened  to  put  one  foot  in  that  loose  pile 
of  sand,  and  she  found  that  while  the 
sand  on  the  outside  was  already  cool, 
that  down  inside  the  pile  was  still 
warm.  A  clever  idea  came  to  her  like 
a  flash. 

*'  First  she  sent  Mr.  'Gator  into  the 
water  to  get  his  supper.  Then  she 
scooped  a  hole  in  that  pile  of  warm 
sand,  and  in  it  she  put  her  precious 
eggs  and  carefully  covered  them  up 
with  sand.  When  this  was  done  she 
stretched  out  close  by  to  keep  watch 
and  see  that  nothing  disturbed  those 
treasures.  That  was  a  very  anxious 
night  for  Mrs.  'Gator.  The  sand  on 
which  she  lay  grew  very  cool.  When 
at  last  day  came  and  Mr.  Sun  once 
more  began  to  shine,  she  opened  that 
pile  of  sand  and  great  was  her  joy  to 
find  that  inside  it  was  still  warm. 
When  Mr.  'Gator  came  crawling  out  of 


104  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

the  water  to  spend  the  day  in  that  com- 
fortable  bed  he  had  dug,  she  chased 
him  away  and  was  so  cross  that  he 
went  off  grumbling  and  dug  another 
bed.  Mrs.  'Gator  waited  until  Mr. 
Sun  had  made  the  sand  very  warm 
indeed,  and  then  she  made  a  great 
mound  of  it,  and  in  the  middle  of  it 
were  her  precious  eggs.  Night  and 
day  she  kept  guard,  and  all  the  time 
she  worried  lest  those  eggs  should  not 
be  warm  enough.  Then  one  day 
twenty  baby  'Gators  dug  their  way 
out  of  that  moimd  of  sand.  Yes,  Sir, 
they  did. 

'*  All  this  happened  long,  long  ago 
when  the  world  was  young,  and  ever 
since  then  'Gators  have  lived  only  way 
down  south,  where  it  is  very  warm  and 
where  Mr.  Sun  will  hatch  their  eggs 
for  them.  And  today  it  is  done  just 
as  I've  told  you,  for  I've  seen  with  my 


OLD  MRS.  'GATOR'S  INCUBATOR      105 

own  eyes  Mrs.  'Gator  build  her  nest, 
cover  her  eggs,  and  then  lie  around 
while  Mr.  Sim  did  the  work  for  her. 
What  do  you  think  of  that?  " 

*'  I  think  that  if  you  hadn't  told  me 
that  you  had  seen  it  with  your  own 
eyes,  Mrs.  Quack,  I  should  think  it  a 
fairy  story,"  replied  Peter. 


VIII 

WHERE  MR.  QUACK  GOT  HIS  WEBBED 
FEET 


vni 

WHERE  MR.  QUACK  GOT  HIS  WEBBED  FEET 

TWICE  every  year,  in  the  early 
spring  and  in  tlie  late  fall, 
Peter  Rabbit  watches  the 
Smiling  Pool  with  a  great  deal  of 
eagerness.  Can  you  gness  why?  It 
is  because  two  very  good  friends  of 
Peter's  are  in  the  habit  of  stopping 
there  for  a  few  days  for  rest  and  re- 
freshment before  continuing  the  long 
journey  which  they  are  obliged  to 
make.  They  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack, 
the  Mallard  Ducks.  Peter  is  very  fond 
of  them,  and  when  the  time  for  their 
arrival  draws  near,  Peter  watches  for 
them  with  a  great  deal  of  anxiety. 
You  see  they  have  told  him  something 


110  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

of  the  terrible  dangers  which  they 
always  encounter  on  these  long  jour- 
neys, and  so  Peter  is  always  afraid 
that  something  terrible  may  have  hap- 
pened to  them,  and  it  is  a  great  relief 
when  he  finds  them  swimming  about 
in  the  Smiling  Pool. 

One  reason  Peter  is  so  fond  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Quack  is  because  they  always 
have  a  story  for  him.  Sometimes  it  is 
a  story  of  adventure,  a  tale  of  terrible 
danger  and  narrow  escapes.  Sometimes 
it  is  about  their  home  in  the  far  North- 
land, and  again  it  is  about  the  wonderful 
Southland  where  they  spend  the  win- 
ter. But  the  story  that  Peter  likes  best 
is  the  one  about  where  and  how  the 
Quack  family  got  their  funny,  webbed 
feet.  Mr.  Quack  doesn't  think  thos(? 
feet  funny  at  all,  b,ut  Peter  does.  He 
never  grows  tired  of  watching  Mr.  and 
Mrs.   Quack  use  them,  because,  you 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET         111 

know,  they  are  used  so  differently 
from  other  feet.  And  always  he  goes 
back  to  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  with 
renewed  admiration  for  the  wisdom  of 
Old  Mother  Nature. 

Peter  noticed  those  feet  the  first 
time  he  met  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack.  He 
couldn't  help  but  notice  them.  It  hap- 
pened that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack  were 
out  on  the  bank  of  the  Smiling  Pool 
as  Peter  came  hurrying  over  in  his 
usual  way,  lipperty-lipperty-lip.  They 
heard  him  coming  and  not  knowing  at 
first  who  it  was  they  at  once  started 
for  the  water.  Peter  never  will  forget 
the  funny  way  in  which  they  waddled. 
He  never  had  seen  anybody  quite  so 
awkward.  But  when  they  reached  the 
water  he  forgot  to  laugh.  He  simply 
stared  open-mouthed  in  astonishment. 
You  see  there  they  were  as  graceful 
as  they  had  been  awkward  on  land. 


112    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Afterward,  when  Peter  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  them  and  they  were 
the  best  of  friends,  he  ventured  to 
speak  of  their  queer  feet. 

^'  Do  you  know,"  said  he,  **  you  have 
the  most  interesting  feet  of  anybody  I 
know  of.  They  are  so  broad  that  the 
first  time  I  saw  them  I  couldn't  be- 
lieve my  own  eyes.  I  didn't  suppose 
anybody  had  such  broad  feet.  I  sup- 
pose there  is  some  special  reason  why 
they  are  so  broad  and  why  your  legs 
are  so  short.  Do  you  know  how 
Mother  Nature  happened  to  give  you 
feet  so  different  from  the  feet  of  other 
birds,  Mr.  Quack?" 

Mr.  Quack  chuckled.  ^'  I  tell  you 
what  it  is,  Peter,"  said  he,  *'  if  you'll 
tell  me  why  it  is  you  have  such  long 
hind  legs  and  such  a  funny  short  tail, 
I'll  tell  you  why  it  is  that  Mrs.  Quack 
and  I  have  such  broad  feet,  though  I 


M  A.  IS  ie  I  5  "  f^  ■  C 


5<.N  ■  L-^'c>r 


Peter  noticed  those  feet  the  first  time  he  met 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Quack. 

Pa(je  111. 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET        113 

must  confess  that  I  don't  see  anything 
odd  about  them." 

Peter  agreed  at  once.  He  told  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Quack  all  about  what  hap- 
pened to  his  grandfather  a  thousand 
times  removed,  the  very  first  Rabbit, 
way  back  when  the  world  was  young, 
and  how  ever  since  then  all  Rabbits 
have  had  long  hind  legs  and  short  tails. 
When  he  had  finished  Mr.  Quack 
thoughtfully  scratched  his  handsome 
green  head,  looked  at  his  reflection  in 
the  Smiling  Pool  to  make  sure  that  he 
was  looking  his  very  best,  looked  be- 
hind to  see  that  the  feathers  in  the  tip 
of  his  tail  had  the  proper  curl,  and  then 
gazed  off  over  the  Green  Meadows 
with  a  far-away  look  in  his  eyes  as  if 
he  were  looking  way  back  to  the  time 
he  was  to  tell  about.  At  last,  just  as 
Peter  Rabbit  was  beginning  to  lose 
patience  Mr.  Quack  began. 


114   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

"  It  must  be,  Peter,"  said  he,  **  that 
my  great-great-ever-so-great-grand- 
father lived  just  about  the  same  time 
as  your  great  -  great  -  ever  -  so  -  great - 
grandfather,  way  back  in  the  days 
when  the  world  was  young.  Perhaps 
they  knew  each  other.  Perhaps  they 
were  acquainted  just  as  you  and  I  are 
now.  Anyway,  according  to  what  has 
been  handed  down  in  the  family, 
Grandfather  Quack  was  very  much 
such  a  looking  fellow  as  I  am  iiow, 
except  in  the  matter  of  Ids  bill  and 
feet.  His  bill  was  not  broad  like  mine 
but  more  like  the  bills  of  other  birds, 
and  his  feet  were  like  the  feet  of  Mr. 
Grouse  and  Bob  White.  They  were 
made  for  scratching,  and  there  was 
nothing  between  the  toes.  You  see. 
Old  Mother  Nature  was  experimenting. 
She  made  everybody  a  little  different 
from  everybody  else  and  then  started 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET         115 

them  forth  in  the  Great  World  to  shift 
for  themselves  and  to  find  out  what 
they  really  needed  that  they  hadn't 
got. 

*'  Old  Mr.  Quack,  my  great-great- 
ever-so-great-grandfather,  soon  dis- 
covered one  thing,  and  that  was  that 
his  legs  were  too  short  for  him  to  get 
around  very  fast.  When  he  walked, 
everybody  laughed  at  him.  When  he 
tried  to  run,  they  laughed  harder  than 
ever.  He  didn't  mind  this  so  very 
much,  though  he  did  a  little.  Nobody 
likes  to  be  laughed  at,  especially  when 
it  is  because  of  something  they  can- 
not help.  But  what  he  did  mind  was 
the  fact  that  his  neighbors  could  nm 
about  so  much  faster  than  he  that  they 
got  all  the  best  of  the  food,  and  quite 
often  he  went  hungry. 

*'  One  day  he  happened  to  be  sitting 
on  the  bank  of  the  Smiling  Pool,  think- 


116  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

ing  the  matter  over  and  wondering 
what  he  had  best  do,  when  Mr.  Fox 
stole  up  behind  him  and  startled  him 
so  that  he  lost  his  balance  and  tumbled 
down  the  bank  into  the  water.  This 
frightened  him  more  than  ever,  and 
he  flapped  about  and  squawked  and 
squawked  and  flapped  until  Mr.  Fox 
nearly  split  his  sides  laughing  at  him. 
And  when  he  was  quite  out  of  breath, 
Mr.  Quack  discovered  that  he  was 
making  all  this  fuss  for  nothing.  He 
didn't  sink,  but  floated  on  the  water, 
and  what  was  more  the  water  didn't 
get  under  his  feathers  at  all.  When  he 
tried  to  walk,  of  course  he  couldn't, 
and  he  had  a  funny  feeling  because  his 
feet  didn't  touch  anything  and  felt  so 
very  useless.  But  he  kept  moving 
them  back  and  forth,  and  pretty  soon 
he  discovered  that  he  moved  ahead. 
Of   course   he  moved   very   slowly,  be- 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET        117 

cause  Ms  feet  were  not  made  for  use 
in  the  water,  but  he  moved,  and  that 
was  enough.  He  knew  then  that  he 
could  get  b.ack  to  land.  Then  he  tried 
his  wings  and  he  found  that  he  could 
rise  into  the  air  from  the  water  quite 
as  easily  as  from  the  land.  Eight  then 
and  there  all  fear  of  the  water  left  him. 
In  fact,  he  liked  it. 

*^  Little  by  little,  Grandfather  Quack 
began  to  understand  that  he  had  made 
a  great  discovery.  He  had  discovered 
the  safest  place  in  all  the  Great  World 
for  him.  Out  on  the  water  he  was  safe 
from  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  Wolf  and  all  the 
other  four-footed  hunters.  So  he  took 
to  spending  most  of  his  time  on  the 
water  or  near  it.  When  he  wanted  a 
nap,  he  would  hide  among  the  rushes 
that  grew  in  the  water.  ^  If  only  I 
didn't  have  to  leave  the  water  for 
food!  '  sighed  Grandfather  Quack.    '  If 


118  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

only  I  could  find  food  here,  I  would 
never  leave  the  water.' 

*^  At  the  time  he  was  squatting  at 
the  very  edge  of  the  Smiling  Pool. 
Presently  he  noticed  a  funny  water 
bug  crawling  on  the  bottom  where  the 
water  was  only  an  inch  or  two  deep. 
'  I  wonder  if  that  fellow  is  good  to 
eat,'  thought  he,  and  almost  without 
thinking  he  plunged  his  head  imder 
water  and  caught  the  bug.  It  was 
good.  Grandfather  Quack  at  once 
started  to  look  for  more,  and  while 
doing  this  he  discovered  that  there 
were  a  great  many  seeds  from  the 
rushes  scattered  about  in  the  mud  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Smiling  Pool,  and 
that  these  also  were  good  to  eat.  Then 
quite  by  accident  he  got  hold  of  a 
tender  root  in  the  mud  and  found  that 
this  was  especially  good. 

**  This  was  enough  for  Grandfather 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET        119 

Quack.  He  had  foirnd  that  he  could 
get  plenty  to  eat  without  leaving  the 
Smiling  Pool.  Moreover,  he  didn't 
have  to  share  it  with  anybody,  because 
there  was  no  one  else  who  thought  of 
looking  for  food  there.  He  knew  when 
he  was  well  off.  So  Grandfather 
Quack  grew  fat  and  was  happy.  The 
only  things  that  bothered  him  were 
the  slowness  with  which  he  had  to  pick 
up  seeds,  one  at  a  time,  and  the  slow- 
ness with  which  he  could  paddle  about, 
for  you  couldn't  really  call  it  swim- 
ming. But  in  spite  of  these  things  he 
was  happy  and  made  the  best  of  his 
lot. 

''  One  day  he  tugged  and  tugged  at 
a  root  with  his  head  under  water. 
When  at  last  he  had  to  bring  his  head 
up  for  a  breath,  whom  should  he  dis- 
cover but  Old  Mother  Nature  watching 
him  from  the  opposite  bank.     *  Come 


120    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

over  here,  Mr.  Quack,  and  tell  me  all 
about  it, '  she  eoimnanded. 

^'  Grandfather  Quack  started  across 
the  Smiling  Pool,  but  because  his  feet 
were  not  made  for  swimming,  it  took 
him  a  long  time  to  get  there.  Old 
Mother  Nature  smiled  as  she  watched 
him.  ^  You  look  better  on  the  water 
than  you  do  on  land,'  said  she.  ^  In 
fact,  I  believe  that  is  just  where  you 
belong.  Now  tell  me  how  you  hap- 
pened to  take  to  the  water.' 

''  Grandfather  Quack  told  her  the 
whole  story  and  how  Old  Mother 
Nature  did  laugh  when  he  described 
how  frightened  he  was  when  he  fell 
in  that  time.  Suddenly  she  reached 
out  and  caught  him  by  the  bill.  ^  I 
don't  think  much  of  that  bill  for  pok- 
ing about  in  the  mud,'  said  she.' 
*  How  will  this  do?  '  She  let  go,  and 
Grandfather   Quack  found   he   had   a 


MR.  QUACK'S  WEBBED  FEET        121 

broad  bill  just  suited  for  getting  food 
out  of  the  mud.  Then  Old  Mother 
Nature  bade  him  hold  forth  first  one 
foot  and  then  the  other.  Between  the 
toes  she  stretched  a  tough  skin  clear 
to  the  toe  nails.  '  Now  let  me  see  you 
swim,'  said  she. 

*^  Grandfather  Quack  tried.  He 
kicked  one  foot  and  then  the  other, 
and  to  his  great  joy  he  shot  along 
swiftly.  When  he  drew  his  feet  back 
for  another  kick  his  toes  closed  to- 
gether, and  so  his  feet  came  through 
the  water  easily.  But  when  he  kicked 
back  they  were  wide  spread,  and  the 
skin  between  them  pushed  against  the 
water,  and  drove  him  ahead.  It  was 
wonderful!  It  was  splendid!  He 
hurried  over  to  Old  Mother  Nature, 
and  with  tears  of  joy  in  his  eyes  he 
thanked  her.  And  from  that  day  to 
this  members  of  my  family  have  had 


122  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

the  same  broad  bills  and  webbed  feet, 
and  have  lived  on  the  water/'  concluded 
Mr.  Quack. 


IX 


"WHERE  THUNDERFOOT  THE  BISON  GOT 
HIS  HUMP 


1 


IX 


WHERE  THUNDERFOOT  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS 
HUMP 

THUKDERFOOT  THE  BISON, 
often  called  Buffalo,  is  not  a 
handsome  fellow,  as  you  very 
well  know  if  you  have  seen  him  or  a  pic- 
ture of  him.  His  head  is  carried  low, 
very  near  the  ground,  and  on  his  shoul- 
ders is  a  great  hump.  No,  you  wouldn't 
call  him  handsome.  You  would  hardly 
call  him  good-looking  even.  In  fact, 
you  would,  I  suspect,  call  him  homely. 
Certainly  there  is  nothing  about  him 
to  suggest  pride.  Yet  according  to  the 
story   Digger   the    Badger   once    told 


126  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Peter  Rabbit,  pride  and  nothing  less 
was  the  cause  of  that  big  hump  which 
makes  Thunderfoot  appear  so  clumsy 
and  homely. 

Peter  Rabbit,  as  you  know,  is  very 
fond  of  stories.  In  this  respect  he  is 
very  like  some  other  folks  I  know.  Any- 
way, he  never  misses  a  chance  for  a 
story  if  he  can  help  it.  He  had  dis- 
covered that  Digger  the  Badger  and 
Old  Man  Coyote,  both  of  whom  had 
come  to  the  Green  Meadows  from  the 
Far  West,  were  full  of  stories  about 
their  neighbors  of  the  distant  prairies, 
folk  whom  Peter  never  had  seen. 
Sometimes  when  he  had  nothing  else  to 
do,  Old  Man  Coyote  would  come  over 
to  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  and  tell 
stories  to  Peter,  who  sat  safe  behind 
the  brambles.  Perhaps  Old  Man  Co- 
yote hoped  that  Peter  would  become 
so  interested  that  he  would  forget  and 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP    127 

come  out  of  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch. 
But  Peter  never  did. 

But  most  of  the  stories  of  the  people 
of  the  Far  West  Peter  got  from  Digger 
the  Badger  because,  you  see,  he  wasn't 
afraid  to  go  beg  for  them.  He  knew 
that  Digger  couldn't  catch  him  if  he 
wanted  to,  and  so  when  Grandfather 
Frog  hadn't  a  story  for  him,  Peter 
would  go  tease  Digger  for  one.  It  was 
thus  that  he  heard  about  Thunderfoot 
the  Bison  and  where  he  got  that  great 
hump  of  his. 

^'  I  don't  suppose,"  said  Peter, 
^^  that  there  are  any  very  big  people 
out  there  on  those  prairies  where  you 
used  to  live  any  more  than  there  are 
here  on  the  Green  Meadows.  All  the 
very  big  people  seem  to  prefer  to  live 
in  the  Green  Forest." 

^*  It  is  that  way  now,  I  must  admit," 
said  Digger  the  Badger,  **  but  it  wasn't 


128  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

SO  in  the  old  days,  in  the  good  old  days 
when  there  were  no  terrible  guns,  and 
Thunderfoot  and  his  followers  shook 
the  ground  with  their  feet."  Digger 
shook  his  head  sadly. 

Instantly  Peter  pricked  up  his  ears. 
''Who  was  Thunderfoot?''  he  de- 
manded. 

Digger  looked  at  Peter  with  such 
a  look  of  pity  for  Peter's  ignorance 
that  Peter  felt  almost  ashamed.  "  He 
doesn't  live  here  and  never  did,  so  far 
as  I  have  heard,  so  how  should  I  know 
anything  about  him?  "  he  added  a  wee 
bit  defiantly. 

^'  If  that's  the  case,"  replied  Digger, 
"  it  is  time  you  learned  about  the  Lord 
of  the  Prairies." 

'^  But  I  want  to  know  about  Thunder- 
foot  first!  "  cried  Peter.  ''  You  can 
tell  me  about  the  Lord  of  the  Prairies 
another  time." 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP     129 


a 


Were  you  born  stupid  or  have  you 
grown  so?  "  asked  Digger  impatiently. 
Then  without  waiting  for  an  answer 
he  added:  ''  Thunderfoot  was  the  Lord 
of  the  Prairies.  He  ruled  over  the 
Wide  Prairies  just  as  Old  King  Bear 
ruled  in  the  Green  Forest.  He  ruled 
by  might.  He  ruled  because  no  one 
dared  deny  him  the  right  to  rule.  He 
ruled  because  of  his  great  size  and  his 
great  strength.  And  all  who  lived  on 
the  Wide  Prairies  looked  up  to  him 
and  admired  him  and  bowed  before 
him  and  paid  him  the  utmost  respect. 
When  he  and  his  followers  ran  the 
earth  shook,  and  the  noise  was  like 
thunder,  and  everybody  hastened  to 
get  out  of  the  way  and  to  warn  his 
neighbors,  crying:  '  Here  comes  my 
Lord  of  the  Prairies!  Make  way  I 
Make  way!  '  And  truly  Thunderfoot 
and  his  followers  were  a  magnificent 


130  MOTHER  WE8T  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

sight,  SO  my  great-grandfather  told 
me,  and  he  had  it  from  his  great-grand- 
father, who  was  told  so  by  his  great- 
grandfather, who  saw  it  all  with  his 
own  eyes.  But  that  was  in  the  days 
before  Thunderfoot's  head  was  brought 
low,  and  he  was  given  the  great  hump 
which  none  of  his  descendants  have 
ever  been  able  to  get  rid  of." 

**  Tell  me  about  that  hump  and 
where  my  Lord  of  the  Prairies,  Thun- 
derfoot  the  Bison,  got  it!  ''  begged 
Peter,  with  shining  eyeSo  That  there 
was  a  story  he  hadn^t  the  least 
doubt. 

Digger  the  Badger  flattened  himself 
out  on  the  ground,  and  into  his  eyes 
crept  a  dreamy,  far-away  look  as  if  he 
were  seeing  things  a  great,  great  way 
off.  **  Way  back  in  the  days  when  the 
world  was  youngs  so  mj  great-grand- 
father said,'^  he  began,  '^  Th underfoot. 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP     131 

the  first  Bison,  was  given  tiie  Wide 
Prairies  for  a  kingdom  by  Old  Mother 
Nature  and  strode  forth  to  take  posses- 
sion. Big  was  he,  the  biggest  of  all 
living  creatures  thereabouts.  Strong 
was  he  with  a  strength  none  cared  to 
test.  And  he  was  handsome.  He  held 
his  head  proudly.  All  who  lived  on 
the  Wide  Prairies  admired  him  with  a 
great  admiration  and  hastened  to  pay 
homage  to  him. 

^'  For  a  long  time  he  ruled  wisely. 
All  the  other  people  brought  their  dis- 
putes to  him  to  be  settled,  and  so 
wisely  did  he  decide  them  that  the 
fame  of  his  wisdom  spread  even  be- 
yond the  Wide  Prairies  and  was  talked 
about  in  the  Green  Forest.  The  hum- 
blest of  his  subjects  could  come  to  htm 
freely  and  be  sure  of  a  hearing  and 
that  justice  would  be  done.  Big  as  he 
was  and  mighty  as  he  was.  he  took  the 


132   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

greatest  care  never  to  forget  the  rights 
of  otherSo 

'^  But  there  came  a  time  when  flat- 
tery turned  his  head,  as  the  saying  is. 
Mr.  Coyote  and  Mr.  Pox  were  the  chief 
flatterers,  and  in  all  the  Grreat  World 
there  were  no  smoother  tongues  than 
theirs.  They  never  lost  an  opportunity 
to  tell  him  how  handsome  he  was,  and 
how  mighty  he  was,  and  how  they  ad- 
mired him  and  looked  up  to  him,  and 
how  unequaled  was  his  wisdom.  You 
see,  being  themselves  dishonest  and 
mischief-makers,  they  frequently  were 
in  trouble  with  their  neighbors  and 
would  have  to  appear  before  Thunder- 
foot  for  judgment.  Even  when  it  went 
against  them  they  praised  the  wisdom 
of  it,  admitting  that  they  were  in  the 
wrong  and  begging  forgiveness,  all  of 
which  was  very  flattering  to  Thun- 
derfoot. 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP     133 

^*  Little  by  little,  without  knowing 
it,  lie  yielded  to  the  JBattery  of  Mr. 
Coyote  and  Mr.  Fox.  He  liked  to  hear 
the  pleasant  things  they  said.  Little 
by  little  it  became  easier  to  find  them 
in  the  right  than  in  the  wrong  when 
they  were  accused  of  wronging  their 
neighbors.  Of  course  they  flattered 
him  still  more.  They  hinted  to  him 
that  it  was  beneath  the  dignity  of  one 
so  big  and  strong  and  handsome  to 
take  notice  of  the  very  small  and 
humble  people  like  Mr.  Meadow  Mouse 
and  Mr.  Toad  and  Mr.  Meadow  Lark 
and  others  of  his  subjects. 

^'  Gradually  the  little  people  of  the 
Wide  Prairies  began  to  notice  a  change 
in  Thunderfoot.  He  became  proud  and 
vain.  He  openly  boasted  of  his 
strength  and  fine  appearance.  When 
he  met  them  he  passed  them  haughtily, 
not  seeing  them  at  all,  or  at  least  ap- 


134  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

pearing  not  to.  No  longer  did  he  re- 
gard the  rights  of  others.  No  longer 
did  he  watch  out  not  to  crush  the  nest 
of  Mrs.  Meadow  Lark  or  to  step  on  the 
babies  of  Danny  Meadow  Mouse.  It 
came  about  that  when  the  thunder  of 
his  feet  was  heard,  those  with  homes 
on  the  ground  shivered  with  fright 
and  hoped  that  my  Lord  of  the  Prairies 
would  not  come  their  way. 

**  One  day,  as  he  raced  over  the 
Wide  Prairies  for  no  reason  but  that 
he  felt  like  running,  Mr.  Meadow  Lark 
flew  to  meet  him.  Mr.  Meadow  Lark 
was  in  great  distress.  ^  Turn  aside, 
my  Lord!  '  he  begged.  '  Turn  aside, 
my  Lord  of  the  Prairies,  for  before 
you  lies  my  nest  with  four  precious 
eggs,  and  I  fear  you  will  step  on 
them  I ' 

'^  Thunderfoot  the  Bison,  Lord  of 
the  Wide  Prairies,   tossed  his   head. 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP    135 

'  If  you  will  build  your  nest  where  it 
can  be  trodden  on,  you  can't  expect  me 
to  look  out  for  it/  said  he.  *  If  any- 
thing so  unfortunate  happens  to  it,  it 
is  your  own  fault,  and  you  mustn't 
blame  me.'  And  he  neither  looked 
down  to  see  where  he  was  putting  his 
feet  nor  turned  aside  so  much  as  an 
inch.  On  he  galloped,  and  presently 
with  a  cry  of  fright  out  from  beneath 
his  feet  flew  Mrs.  Meadow  Lark,  and 
at  the  very  next  step  he  trod  on  the 
little  nest  in  the  grass  and  crushed  the 
four  eggs. 

**  Mr.  Coyote,  who  was  racing  beside 
him  on  one  side  and  saw  what  had 
happened,  grinned.  Mr.  Fox,  who  was 
racing  beside  him  on  the  other  side 
and  saw  what  had  happened,  grinned. 
Seeing  them  grin,  Thunderfoot  himself 
grinned.  Thus  grinning  heartlessly, 
they  continued  to  nm  until  they  came 


136  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

to  a  place  where  Mother  Nature 
walked  among  the  flowers  of  the  Wide 
Prairies.  Mr.  Coyote  and  Mr.  Fox, 
whose  heads  were  not  held  so  high, 
saw  her  in  time  to  put  their  tails  be- 
tween their  legs  and  slink  away. 
Thunderfoot,  holding  his  head  high, 
failed  to  see  her  until  he  was  so  close 
to  her  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he 
stopped  before  running  her  down. 

''  '  My  Lord  of  the  Prairies  seems  in 
fine  spirits,'  said  Mother  Nature 
softly.    '  Is  all  well  with  my  Lord?  ' 

'^  Thunderfoot  tossed  his  head 
proudly.    *  All  is  well/  said  he. 

^^  ^  I  am  sorry  that  others  cannot  say 
as  much/  replied  Mother  Nature,  and 
all  the  softness  was  gone  from  her 
voice,  and  it  was  sharp.  *  I  seem  to 
hear  the  sobs  of  a  broken-hearted  little 
Meadow  Lark,'  she  continued.  *  Little 
though  she  be  and  humble,  she  is  as 


WHERE  THE  BISON  GOT  HIS  HUMP    137 

much  to  me  as  is  my  Lord  of  the 
Prairies  who  has  made  her  suffer.' 

''  Stooping  swiftly,  Mother  Nature 
picked  up  her  staff  and  with  it  struck 
Thunderfoot  on  the  neck,  so  that  his 
head  was  brought  low,  and  in  fear  of 
another  blow  he  humped  his  shoulders 
up.  *  Thus  shall  you  be,  still  big,  still 
strong,  but  hump-shouldered  and 
carrying  your  head  low  in  shame,  no 
longer  Lord  of  the  Prairies,  imtil  such 
time  as  you  restore  to  Mrs.  Meadow 
Lark  the  eggs  you  destroyed,'  said  she, 
and  turned  her  back  on  him. 

'^  It  was  so.  From  that  day  on, 
Thunderfoot  ceased  to  rule  over  the 
Wide  Prairies.  He  was  hump-shoul- 
dered and  he  carried  his  head  low, 
looking  and  looking  for  the  eggs  he 
never  could  find  to  restore  to  Mrs. 
Meadow  Lark.  And  though  his  chil- 
dren  and  his   children's   children  be- 


138    MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

came  many,  there  never  was  one  with- 
out the  hmnp  or  who  ceased  to  carry 
his  head  low  in  shame,"  concluded 
Digger  the  Badger. 


X 


WHERE  LBIBERHEELS  GOT  HIS  LONG 
TAIL 


WHERE  LIMBERHEELS  GOT  HIS  LONG  TAIL 

HAVE  you  ever  seen  Limber- 
lieels  the  Jumping  Mouse 
when  he  was  in  a  hurry'?  If 
you  have,  very  likely  the  first  time 
you  felt  very  much  as  Peter  Rabbit 
did  when  he  saw  Limberheels  for  the 
first  time.  He  was  hopping  along 
across  the  Green  Meadows  with  noth- 
ing much  on  his  mind  when  from  right 
imder  his  wobbly  nose  something  shot 
into  the  air  over  the  tops  of  the  grasses 
for  eight  or  ten  feet  and  then  down 
and  out  of  sight.  Peter  rubbed  his 
eves. 


142  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

''  Did  I  see  it,  or  didn't  I?  And  if 
I  did,  what  was  it?  "  gasped  Peter. 

A  squeaky  little  laugh  answered 
him.  '^  You  saw  it  all  right,  Peter,  but 
it  isn't  polite  to  call  any  one  it.  He 
would  be  quite  provoked  if  he  had 
heard  you.  That  was  my  cousin, 
Limberheels,"  replied  a  voice  quite  as 
squeaky  as  the  laugh  had  been. 

Peter  turned  to  see  the  bright  eyes 
of  Danny  Meadow  Mouse  twinkling 
at  him  from  the  entrance  to  a  tiny 
little  path  that  joined  the  bigger  path  in 
which  Peter  was  sitting. 

*'  Hello,  Danny!  "  he  exclaimed. 
^'  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  was  a 
relative  of  yours?  Since  when  have 
any  of  your  relatives  taken  to  flying?  " 

Danny  chuckled.  ^*  He  wasn't  fly- 
ing," he  retorted.  ^'  He  just  jumped, 
that  was  all."  Danny  chuckled  again, 
for  he  knows  that  Peter  considers  him- 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  143 

self  quite  a  jumper  and  is  inclined  to 
be  a  bit  jealous  of  any  one  else  who 
pretends  to  jump  save  bis  cousin, 
Jumper  the  Hare. 

'^Jumped!"  snorted  Peter. 
''  Jumped!  Do  you  expect  me  to  be- 
lieve that  any  Mouse  can  jump  like 
that'?  I  didn't  get  a  good  look  at  that 
fellow,  but  whoever  he  is  I  tell  you 
he  flew.    Nobody  can  jump  like  that." 

Danny  chuckled  again.  ^'  Wait  a 
minute,  Peter,"  said  he.  He  disap- 
peared, and  Peter  waited.  He  waited 
one  minute,  two  minutes,  three  min- 
utes, and  then  suddenly  Danny  poked 
his  head  out  from  the  grass  beside  the 
path.  ^'  Here  he  is,  Peter,"  said  he, 
coming  wholly  out  into  the  path. 
^'  Let  me  introduce  my  cousin,  Limber^ 
heels." 

As  he  spoke  the  grass  beside  him 
rustled,  and  out  crept  some  one  beside 


144  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

whom  Danny  Meadow  Mouse  looked 
big,  clumsy  and  homely.  One  glance 
was  enough  to  tell  Peter  that  the 
stranger  was  a  sure-enough  member 
of  the  Mouse  family,  but  such  a  mem- 
ber as  he  never  had  seen  before.  He 
was  trim  and  slender.  He  wore  a  red- 
dish-brown coat  with  a  white  waist- 
coat. But  the  things  that  made  Peter 
stare  very  impolitely  were  his  tail 
and  his  legs.  His  tail  was  nearly  twice 
as  long  as  his  body,  slim  and  tapering, 
and  his  hind  legs  were  very  long, 
while  his  fore  legs  were  short.  It  took 
only  one  glance  to  convince  Peter  that 
here  was  a  bom  jumper.  Any  one 
built  like  that  must  jump. 

'^  You  two  must  become  acquainted 
and  be  friends, '^  continued  Danny 
Meadow  Mouse.  *'  Peter  is  one  of  my 
best  friends,  Limberheels.  He 
wouldn't  hurt  a  flea.     I'm  sure  that 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  145 

from  now  on  lie  will  be  one  of  your 
best  friends.'' 

^'111  be  happy  to,"  said  Peter 
promptly.  '^  Danny  has  been  telling 
me  what  a  wonderful  jumper  you  are. 
Would  you  mind  showing  me  how  you 
jump?  I  guess  you  jumped  right  in 
front  of  me  a  few  minutes  ago,  but  I 
was  so  surprised  that  I  didn't  really 
see  you." 

'^  I  guess  I  did,"  replied  Limberheels 
rather  timidly.  ''  You  see,  I  didn't 
hear  you  coming  until  you  were  almost 
on  top  of  me,  and  then  I  didn't  know 
who  it  was  so  I  got  away  as  quickly 
as  I  could.  I'll  be  ever  so  glad  to  have 
you  for  a  friend  and  next  time  I  won't 
run  away." 

'^  Show  him  how  you  can  jump," 
interrupted  Danny  Meadow  Mouse. 
'^  He  wouldn't  believe  me  when  I  told 
him  that  you  didn't  fly." 


146   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Limberheels  grinned  rather  sheep- 
ishly. '^  Of  course  I  didn't  fly/'  said 
he.  '^  No  animal  can  fly  but  Flitter 
the  Bat.    I  just  jumped  like  this.'' 

With  a  tremendous  spring  from  his 
long  hind  legs  Limberheels  leaped, 
while  Peter  Rabbit  stared,  his  mouth 
wide  open  with  astonishment.  He 
hadn't  dreamed  that  any  one  could 
jump  so  far  in  proportion  to  his  size 
as  this  slim,  trim  little  cousin  of 
Danny's.  Later,  after  Limberheels 
had  jumped  for  Peter's  benefit  until 
he  was  tired  and  had  gone  to  hunt  for 
a  lunch  of  grass  seeds,  Peter  wanted 
to  know  all  about  Limberheels. 

^'  Never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  such 
jumping,"  he  declared.  "  And  never 
have  I  seen  such  a  tail.  I  thought 
Whitefoot  the  Wood  Mouse  had  a  fine 
tail,  but  it  doesn't  compare  with  that  of 
Limberheels.'' 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  147 

**  It  is  a  fine  tail,"  replied  Danny, 
whose  own  tail,  as  you  know,  is  very 
short. 

**  It  is  a  fine  tail,"  he  repeated 
rather  wistfully.  '^  Would  you  like  to 
hear  where  he  got  it?  " 

*'  I  know,"  retorted  Peter  with  a 
grin.  '^  He  got  it  from  his  father,  who 
got  it  from  his  father,  and  so  on  way 
back  to  the  days  when  the  world  was 
yoimg."  Then,  seeing  a  look  of  disap- 
pointment on  Danny's  face,  and  eager 
for  a  story  as  usual,  he  added:  ''  But 
I  would  like  to  know  how  such  a  tail 
as  that  came  in  the  family." 

Danny  brightened  up  at  once.  **  It's 
funny  how  things  come  about  in  this 
world,"  he  began.  '*  The  great-great- 
ever-so-great-grandfather  of  Limber- 
heels,  the  first  one,  you  know,  was 
quite  an  ordinary  Mouse  when  Old 
Mother  Nature  made  him  and  started 


148  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

liiin  out  to  make  his  way  in  the  Great 
eWorld.  He  was  little,  one  of  the  small- 
est of  the  family,  and  his  tail  was 
short,  no  longer  than  mine.  His  hind 
legs  were  like  those  of  all  his  relatives. 
He  ran  about  just  as  his  relatives  did. 
He  was  so  small  and  kept  out  of  sight 
so  much  that  he  didn't  even  have  a 
name.  There  was  nothing  about  him 
to  suggest  a  name. 

**  For  a  long  time  he  was  contented 
and  happy.  Then  one  day  he  hap- 
pened to  see  Mr.  Hare  jump.  It 
seemed  to  him  the  most  wonderful 
thing  in  the  world  that  any  one  should 
be  able  to  jump  like  that.  So  he  began 
to  spend  most  of  his  spare  time  where 
he  could  watch  Mr.  Hare.  One  day 
Old  Mother  Nature  happened  along 
unseen  by  him,  as  he  was  watching  Mr. 
Hare  jump,  and  she  overheard  him  say 
very,  very  wistfully,  *  How  I  wish  I 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  149 

could  jump  like  that!  I  wish  I  had 
long  hind  legs  like  Mr.  Hare/ 

*^  Old  Mother  Nature's  kindly  eyes 
twinkled.  ^  That's  easily  arranged/ 
said  she.  *  If  you  think  long  hind  legs 
will  be  of  more  use  to  you  than  the 
ones  you  have,  you  shaU  have  them:' 

'*  The  next  morning  when  little  Mr. 
Mouse  awoke,  he  discovered  that  in  the 
night  something  had  happened  to  his 
hind  legs.  They  were  very  long  and 
strong,  regular  jumping  legs  like  those 
of  Mr.  Hare.  Of  course  he  was  in  such 
a  great  hurry  to  try  them  that  he 
couldn't  wait  for  his  breakfast.  He 
began  by  making  little  short  hops,  and 
in  no  time  at  all  he  was  getting  about 
splendidly.  At  last  he  got  up  his  cour- 
age to  try  a  long  jump.  Up  in  the  air 
he  shot,  and  then  something  happened. 
Yes,  Sir,  something  happened.  He 
couldn't  keep  his  balance.    He  turned 


150  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

two  or  tliree  somersaults  and  landed 
on  his  back. 

'*  ^  I  guess/  said  lie  to  himself, 
'  IVe  got  to  learn  to  make  long  jumps/ 
So  he  kept  trying  and  trying,  but 
always  with  the  same  result  —  he 
never  knew  when,  where,  or  how  he 
was  going  to  land.  As  long  as  he  made 
short  jumps  he  had  no  trouble,  but 
every  time  he  tried  a  long  jump  he 
lost  his  balance,  and  try  as  he  would 
he  couldn't  discover  why.  So  at  last 
he  gave  up  trying  and  contented  him- 
self with  short  jumps.  Finally  Old 
Mother  Nature  came  that  way  again. 

*^  *  How  do  you  like  your  long  hind 
legs? '  she  asked. 

<<  <  Very  much,  thank  you,'  replied 
little  Mr.  Mouse  politely. 

*^  *  Let  me  see  you  jump,'  said  Old 
Mother  Nature. 

"  Little    Mr.    Mouse    made    half   a 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  151 

dozen  little  jumps.  They  were  not 
much  more  than  hops,  '  You  don't 
call  that  jumping,  do  you?  '  laughed 
Old  Mother  Nature.  *  With  such  long, 
strong  legs  as  I've  given  you,  you 
ought  to  be  one  of  the  best  jumpers 
anywhere  about.  Now  let  me  see  you 
make  a  long  jump.' 

''  Little  Mr.  Mouse  tried  his  best  to 
think  of  some  excuse,  but  he  couldn't. 
So  he  made  a  long  jump,  and  the  usual 
thing  happened  —  he  turned  two  or 
three  somersaults  and  landed  on  his 
back.  Old  Mother  Nature  looked  as- 
tonished. Then  she  laughed  until  she 
had  to  hold  her  sides.  *  Do  it  again,' 
she  commanded. 

*'  With  the  most  shamefaced  air  that 
you  can  imagine,  little  Mr.  Mouse 
jumped  again.  Old  Mother  Nature 
watched  him  closely.  '  Come  here  to 
me,'  said  she  as  he  scrambled  to  his 


152  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

feet  after  his  tumble.  *  It's  all  my 
fault,'  said  she  kindly,  as  he  obeyed 
her.  *  It  was  very  stupid  of  me.  What 
you  need  is  a  long  tail  to  balance  you 
on  a  long  jump.  That  short  tail  is  all 
right  for  short  jumps,  but  it  won't  do 
for  long  jumps.  It  won't  do  at  all.  I 
should  have  thought  of  that  when  I 
made  your  legs  long.' 

'*  She  reached  down  and  took  hold 
of  the  tip  of  that  little  short  tail  and 
drew  it  out  until  it  was  long,  almost 
twice  as  long  as  the  body  of  little  Mr. 
Mouse.  '  Now  jump,'  she  commanded, 
*  and  jump  with  all  your  might.' 

**  A  little  fearfully  but  with  the  be- 
ginning of  a  little  hope  Mr.  Mouse 
jumped  with  all  his  might.  Away  he 
sailed  straight  and  true  and  landed 
lightly  on  his  feet  so  far  from  where 
he  had  left  the  ground  that  he  could 
hardly   believe   his    own    eyes    as   he 


LIMBERHEEL'S  LONG  TAIL  153 

looked  back.  Mother  Nature  was  smil- 
ing. 

**  ^  There  you  are,  Mr.  Limberheels. 
I  guess  that  that  will  make  you  quite 
the  most  wonderful  jumper  of  all  my 
children,'  said  she. 

*^  And  so  it  was  that  little  Mr. 
Mouse,  all  at  one  time,  became  pos- 
sessed of  a  long  tail,  a  name,  and  the 
ability  to  out  jump  all  his  neighbors," 
concluded  Danny  Meadow  Mouse. 
^*  Do  you  know,"  he  added  wistfully, 
^^  sometimes  I  envy  my  cousin  Limber- 
heels." 

'*  I  envy  him  myself,"  declared 
Peter. 


XI 


WHERE  OLD  MR.  GOBBLER  GOT  THE 
STRUTTING  HABIT 


XI 

WHERE  OLD  MR.  GOBBLER  GOT  THE 
STRUTTING  HABIT 

PETER  RABBIT  never  wUl  for- 
get the  first  time  he  saw  Big 
Tom  Gobbler.  It  was  very 
early  one  spring  morning,  when  Peter 
was  not  yet  old  enough  to  have  made 
the  acquaintance  of  all  the  people  who 
live  in  the  Green  Forest,  and  when  it 
seemed  as  if  the  chief  thing  in  life  with 
him  was  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  about 
the  ways  of  the  Great  World.  Several 
times  when  he  had  been  hopping  along, 
lipperty-lipperty-lip,  through  the 
Green  Forest  just  after  sun-up,  he 
had  heard  a  strange  sound  quite  un- 


158  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

like  any  other  of  all  the  many  sounds 
his  long  ears  had  learned  to  know.  He 
knew  that  it  was  the  voice  of  some  one 
who  lived  in  the  Green  Forest,  but 
though  he  had  looked  and  looked  he 
had  been  unable  to  discover  the  owner 
of  that  voice. 

On  this  particular  morning  Peter 
happened  to  be  sitting  under  some 
ferns  on  the  edge  of  a  little  open  space 
among  the  trees  when  again  he  heard 
that  strange  voice.  It  seemed  to  come 
from  somewhere  back  in  the  woods  in 
the  very  direction  from  which  he  had 
just  come.  '^  Gobble-obble-obble !  " 
said  the  voice,  and  again  a  moment 
later  "  Gobble-obble-obble!  " 

Peter  was  just  preparing  to  go  back 
to  see  if  he  could  find  the  owner  of 
that  voice  when  the  noise  of  great 
wings  caused  him  to  look  up  just  in 
time  to  see  a  bigger  bird  than  he  ever 


MR.  GOBBLER'S  STRUTTING  HABIT     159 

had  even  dreamed  of  coming  swiftly 
over  the  tree-tops.  With  his  eyes  pop- 
ping out  and  his  mouth  wide  open  with 
astonishment,  Peter  saw  the  great  bird 
set  its  wings  and  sail  down  into  the 
little  opening  on  the  edge  of  which 
Peter  was  sitting.  The  instant  this 
great  bird  was  on  the  ground,  he  stood 
as  still  as  if  he  were  made  of  stone,  his 
long  neck  stretched  up.  Only  the  shine 
of  a  pair  of  the  sharpest  eyes  Feter 
ever  had  seen  showed  that  he  was 
alive. 

Peter  held  his  breath,  and  it  was  so 
still  that  you  could  have  heard  a  leaf 
drop  had  you  been  there.  When  at  last 
the  stranger  moved,  it  was  his  head 
only.  He  turned  it  suddenly  to  the 
right  and  a  moment  later  to  the  left. 
It  was  plain  that  he  was  listening  for 
suspicious  sounds.  All  the  time  his 
bright  eyes  searched  the  edge  of  the 


160  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

opening  until  Peter,  although  he  was 
well  hidden,  felt  that  he  must  be  seen. 
At  last,  satisfied  that  all  was  safe,  the 
stranger  drew  in  his  neck  and  began 
to  walk  about,  pecking  at  the  groimd 
here  and  there  and  swallowing  what  he 
picked  up,  though  what  it  was  Peter 
couldn't  tell. 

A  sound  seemed  to  catch  the  stran- 
ger's quick  ears,  for  he  stopped  and 
stared  very  hard  at  a  little  clump  of 
brush.  Peter  stared  at  it  too.  At  first 
he  saw  nothing,  but  presently  he  saw 
a  head  poked  out,  and  this  also  was  a 
stranger.  Peter  glanced  at  the  big 
stranger  in  the  opening,  and  for  a 
minute  he  wondered  if  it  could  be  that 
something  was  wrong  with  his  eyes. 
Never  had  he  seen  such  a  change  in 
anybody.  This  stranger  didn't  look 
like  the  same  bird  at  all.  He  was 
swelled  up  until  Peter  was  afraid  he 


MR.  GOBBLER'S  STRUTTING  HABIT     161 

would  burst.  His  tail  was  spread  out 
like  a  great  fan.  His  head  was  laid  back 
on  his  humped  shoulders.  BQs  wings 
were  dropped  until  the  stiffly  spread 
feathers  brushed  the  ground.  His 
head  and  neck  were  as  red  as  blood, 
and  there  w^ere  no  feathers  on  either. 
All  the  feathers  of  his  body  were 
ruffed  out  so  that  the  sun  shone  on 
them  and  made  them  shimmer  and 
shine  in  colors  that  seemed  to  con- 
stantly change. 

Back  and  forth  in  front  of  the  brush 
from  which  the  other  stranger  was 
peeping  very  shyly  this  great  bird 
strutted.  He  would  stand  still  so  that 
the  sun  would  fall  full  on  his  shining 
coat  and  show  it  off  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, and  at  the  same  time  he 
would  draw  in  a  great  deal  of  air  and 
then  puff  it  out  all  at  once.  Then 
he  would  walk  a  few  steps,  turn,  drag 


162  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

his  wings  on  the  ground  to  make  them 
rustle,  wheel,  and  run  a  few  steps. 
Never  had  Peter  seen  such  vanity,  such 
conceit,  such  imposing,  puffed-up 
pride.  He  watched  until  he  grew 
tired,  and  then  he  stole  away  and 
hurried  over  to  the  Smiling  Pool  to 
tell  Grandfather  Prog  all  about  it  and 
ask  who  these  strangers  were. 

'^  Chug-a-rum!  "  exclaimed  Grand- 
father Prog,  opening  his  big  mouth 
very  wide  to  laugh  at  Peter  and  his 
excitement.  ^^  That  was  Big  Tom  Gob- 
bler, and  he  was  doing  all  that  for  the 
benefit  of  Mrs.  Gobbler,  who  was  hid- 
ing in  that  brush.  It  was  her  head 
you  saw.  Big  Tom  is  the  most  con- 
ceited fellow  in  the  Green  Porest.  He 
dearly  loves  to  strut.  He  is  just  like 
his  father  and  his  grandfather  and  his 
great-grandfather.  The  Gobblers  never 
have  gotten  over  strutting  since  Old 


MR.  GOBBLERS  STRUTTING  HABIT     163 

Mr.  Gobbler,  the  first  of  the  family, 
got  the  habit/' 

^^  Tell  me  about  it.  Please,  Grand- 
father Frog,  tell  me  about  it,"  begged 
Peter.  ''  How  did  Old  Mr.  Gobbler  get 
the  habit?" 

Grandfather  Prog  chuckled.  *^  He 
got  it  from  admiring  his  own  reflection 
in  a  pool  of  water,"  said  he.  **  You 
see,  in  those  days  way  back  when  the 
world  was  young,  people  had  more 
time  to  form  habits  than  they  do  now. 
With  plenty  to  eat  and  little  to  do, 
they  had  more  time  to  think  about 
themselves  than  they  do  now.  Old  Mr. 
Gobbler  soon  discovered  that  he  was 
the  biggest  of  all  the  birds  in  that  part 
of  the  Great  World  where  he  lived, 
and  this  discovery  was,  I  suspect,  the 
beginning  of  his  vanity.  Then  one  day 
as  he  was  walking  along,  he  came  to  a 
little  pool  of  water.    It  was  very  clear, 


164  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

and  there  wasn't  a  ripple  on  the  sur- 
face. There  for  the  first  time  Mr. 
Crobbler  saw  his  reflection.  The  more 
he  looked,  the  better  he  liked  his  own 
appearance.  He  spread  his  tail  just  to 
see  how  it  would  look  in  the  water. 
Then  he  puffed  himself  out  and 
strutted. 

*^  '  There  is  nobody  to  compare 
with  me/  thought  he,  and  strutted 
more  than  ever. 

*'  After  that  he  used  to  steal  awaj 
every  day  to  admire  himself  in  that 
Kttle  pool  of  water.  He  tried  new 
ways  of  strutting  and  of  puffing  him- 
self out.  After  a  while  he  was  no 
longer  content  to  admire  himself.  He 
wanted  others  to  admire  him.  So  the 
first  chance  he  got  he  began  to  strut 
and  show  off  all  his  grand  airs  before 
Mrs.  Gobbler.  At  first  she  paid  no 
attention  to  him.    At  least  that  is  the 


MR.  GOBBLER'S  STRUTTING  HABIT     165 

way  she  appeared.  She  would  turn 
her  back  on  him  and  walk  off  into  the 
bushes.  This  made  Old  Mr.  Gobbler 
very  angry  until  he  discovered  that  she 
would  tiptoe  back  and  watch  him  ad- 
miringly when  she  thought  he  didn't 
know  it.  That  made  him  strut  all  the 
more. 

'*  At  first  all  the  neighbors  used  to 
gather  around  and  admire  him  and  tell 
him  how  handsome  he  was  imtil  his 
head  was  quite  turned,  as  the  saying 
is,  and  he  spent  most  of  his  time  strut- 
ting and  showing  off.  Then  he  took 
to  bragging  and  boasting  that  there 
was  no  bird  to  compare  with  him.  Thus 
he  became  quite  unbearable,  and  aU 
his  neighbors  would  turn  their  backs 
on  him  when  they  saw  him  coming. 
Only  Mrs.  Gobbler  continued  to  watch 
in  secret  and  to  admire  him. 

^'  Now  in  those   days   Mr.   Gobbler 


166  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

didn't  have  a  red  head  and  neck.  One 
day  Old  Mother  Nature  happened 
along  when  Mr.  Gobbler  was  strutting 
and  boasting  how  big  and  brave  he 
was.  He  didn't  see  her,  and  she 
watched  him  quietly  for  a  few  minutes. 
Then  she  slipped  away  and  hunted  up 
Mr.  Wolf. 

^^ '  I  want  you  to  steal  over  where 
Mr.  Gobbler  is  strutting,'  said  she, 
*  and  suddenly  spring  out  at  him  as  if 
you  intended  to  catch  him.' 

**  Mr.  Wolf  grinned  and  trotted  off 
to  do  her  bidding.  He  found  Mr. 
Gobbler  swelled  up  until  he  looked  as 
if  he  must  burst,  and  bragging  to  Mrs. 
Gobbler. 

'^  *  I'm  the  biggest  of  all  the  birds,' 
bragged  Mr.  Gobbler.  '  I'm  afraid  of 
no  one.  While  you  have  me  with  you, 
my  dear,  you  have  nothing  in  all  the 
Great  World  to  fear.' 


MR.  GOBBLER'S  STRUTTING  HABIT     167 

''  Just  then  out  sprang  Mr.  Wolf 
with  all  his  long,  sharp  teeth  showing. 
Mr.  Gobbler  gave  a  yelp  of  fright.  He 
lost  his  sweUed-up  appearance  as  sud- 
denly as  a  bubble  flattens  out  when  it 
is  pricked.  With  a  frantic  beating  of 
his  wings  he  took  to  the  air.  Being  in 
such  a  fright,  he  didn't  see  where  he 
was  going,  and  struck  his  head  against 
a  sharp  twig,  which  tore  the  skin,  for 
there  were  no  feathers  to  protect  it, 
and  made  it  bleed.  The  blood  ran  all 
over  his  head  and  down  his  neck, 
though  he  really  was  hardly  hurt  at 
aU.  From  the  top  of  a  tall  tree  he 
looked  down.  There  stood  Old  Mother 
Nature,  looking  up  at  him. 

*'  *  Mr.  Gobbler,'  said  she,  '  you  have 
acquired  a  bad  habit,  a  very  bad  habit. 
Hereafter,  whenever  you  become  vain 
and  strut,  your  head  and  neck  shall 
become  as  red  as  they  now  are,  as  a  re- 


168  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

minder  to  you  and  all  who  see  you  of 
how  silly  it  is  to  be  vain  and  boastful/ 
'^  And  so  it  was.  And  so  it  is  with 
Big  Tom  Gobbler  to  this  day.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  world  more  foolish  than 
vanity,"  concluded  Grandfather  Frog. 


XII 


WHERE    SEEK-SEEK   GOT    HIS   PRETTY 
COAT 


xn 

WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  PRETTY  COAT 

PETER  RABBIT  never  will  for- 
get the  first  time  he  saw  Seek- 
Seek  the  Ground  Squirrel, 
often  wrongly  called  Gopher  or  Gopher 
Squirrel,  but  whose  real  name  is  Sper- 
mophile,  which  means  seed  eater. 
Peter  won't  forget  that  meeting,  be- 
cause of  the  funny  mistake  he  made 
and  the  foolish  feeling  he  had  as  a 
result  of  it.  You  see,  Peter  didn't 
know  that  there  was  such  a  person  as 
Seek-Seek.  He  was  hopping  along 
across  the  Green  Meadows  in  his  usual 
happy-go-lucky  way  when,  right  in 
front  of  him,  he  saw  what  at  first  he 


172   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

took  to  be  a  stake,  a  small  stake,  driven 
in  the  ground.  But  as  he  drew  nearer, 
it  suddenly  moved.  It  wasn't  a  stake 
at  all,  but  a  very  lively  small  person  in 
a  striped  coat  who  had  been  sitting  up 
very  straight  and  motionless. 

"  HeUo,  Striped  Chipmunk!  What 
are  you  doing  way  out  here  so  far  from 
the  old  stone  wall?  ''  exclaimed  Peter. 

The  small  person  in  the  striped  coat 
whirled  and  faced  Peter  with  snapping 
eyes.  '*  Don't  call  me  Striped  Chip- 
munk, and  don't  call  me  Gopher!  "  said 
he  very  fiercely  for  so  small  a  person. 
''  I  am  neither  one.  I  am  Seek-Seek 
the  Ground  Squirrel,  and  I'll  thank 
you  to  call  me  by  my  own  name.  I  am 
getting  everlastingly  tired  of  being 
caUed  the  names  of  other  people." 

Peter  looked  very  foolish.  ''  I  beg 
your  pardon,"  said  he.  ^^  I  do  indeed. 
I'm  sorry.    Perhaps  you  don't  know  it, 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT   173 

but  you  look  very  much  like  Striped 
Chipmunk,  who  is  one  of  my  best 
friends.  You  look  so  much  like  him 
that  I  thought  you  must  be  him.  I 
wonder  if  you  are  related  to  him." 

^'  Certainly  I'm  related  to  him,  or  he 
is  related  to  me,  whichever  way  you 
please  to  put  it,''  snapped  Seek-Seek. 
^^  We  are  cousins.  But  he  is  a  Rock 
Squirrel,  and  I  am  a  Ground  Squirrel 
which  is  altogether  different.  You 
don't  find  me  where  there  are  rocks 
and  stones  in  the  w^ay  if  I  know  it. 
Besides,  if  you  used  your  eyes,  you 
would  see  that  we  are  not  dressed  alike 
either.  Just  because  we  both  happen 
to  wear  stripes  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  be  mistaken  for  each  other." 

Peter  looked  at  Seek-Seek  more 
closely  than  he  had,  and  at  once  he 
made  a  discovery.  ^^Why!"  he  ex- 
claimed, *^  your  coat  has  more  stripes 


174  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

than  striped  Chipmunk's  has,  hasn't 
it?" 

^^  I  should  hope  so,"  retorted  Seek- 
Seek. 

'^  And  it  has  little  rows  of  spots, 
too!  "  cried  Peter.  ^^  If  I  had  noticed 
those  spots  at  first,  I  wouldn't  have 
made  such  a  fooUsh  mistake.  I  do  be- 
lieve that  your  coat  is  prettier  than 
Striped  Chipmunk's,  and  I  had  thought 
his  as  pretty  as  a  coat  can  be." 

Seek-Seek  looked  rather  pleased, 
though  he  tried  not  to.  ^'  Huh!  "  he 
sniffed.  *'  Of  course  it's  prettier.  It 
took  you  a  long  time  to  find  it  out.  I 
wouldn't  trade  coats  with  Striped 
Chipmunk  or  anybody  else  of  my  ae- 
quaintance." 

^^  Neither  would  I  if  I  were  in  your 
place,"  declared  Peter.  '^  I  wish  Old 
Mother  Nature  had  given  me  a  coat 
like  that."     He  said  this  so  wistfully 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT    175 

that  Seek-Seek,  who  had  started  to 
laugh,  turned  his  head  so  that  Peter 
might  not  know  it.  ^^  I'm  afraid  it 
wouldn't  look  so  well  on  one  as  big  as 
you,"  he  replied.  ''  Anyway,  you 
wouldn't  he  able  to  hide  from  your 
enemies  as  you  can  now." 

''  That's  so,"  said  Peter  thought- 
fully. '^  I  would  be  easily  seen  iii  a 
coat  like  that,  for  a  fact.  I  hadn't 
thought  of  that.  I  guess  Old  Mother 
Nature  knows  best.  I  —  I  wonder  how 
she  ever  happened  to  think  of  a  coat 
like  yours." 

Seek-Seek  chuckled.  He  had  quite 
forgotten  that  he  had  felt  offended  be- 
cause Peter  had  mistaken  him  for  his 
cousin.  Striped  Chipmunk.  He  en- 
joyed Peter's  admiration  of  his  coat. 
He  is  naturally  rather  talkative,  and 
like  most  folks  he  enjoyed  talking 
about  himself. 


176  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

''  This  coat,"  said  he,  *^  has  been  in 
the  family  a  very  great  while.  Of 
course,  I  don't  mean  this  particular 
coat  that  I  am  wearing,"  he  hastened 
to  add,  as  he  saw  Peter  beginning  to 
grin.  ''  I  mean  this  style  of  coat  has 
been  in  the  family  a  very  long  time. 
My  father  was  dressed  just  as  I  am. 
So  was  his  father  and  —  " 

**  I  know,"  interrupted  Peter. 
^*  You  were  going  to  say  that  so  were 
all  your  grandfathers  way  back  to  the 
days  when  the  world  was  young,  and 
Old  Mother  Nature  made  the  very  first 
one  of  your  family.  It's  funny  to  me 
that  all  the  interesting  things  hap- 
pened such  a  long  time  ago.  Now 
wasn't  that  what  you  were  going  to 
say?  " 

Seek-Seek  admitted  that  it  was,  and 
looked  a  little  disappointed  that  Peter 
had  guessed  it.    But  a  second  later  ba 


"H  AieiB  1  3  °  N    {  A,-D  Y 


Don't  call  me  Striped  Chipmunk,  and  don't 
call  me  Gopher  !  "  said  he. 

Page  172. 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT    177 

felt  better  when  Peter  asked  him  very 
politely  but  very  earnestly  for  the 
story  of  how  the  first  Ground  Squirrel 
got  such  a  pretty  coat.  "  There  is  a 
story.  I  know  there  is  a  story/' 
declared  Peter.  '^  Won't  you  tell  it 
to  me  please,  Seek-Seek?  '' 

Now  Peter  didn't  want  to  hear  it 
any  more  than  Seek-Seek  wanted  to 
tell  it,  so  while  Peter  squatted  down 
comfortably,  Seek-Seek  sat  up  very 
straight  and  began  the  story. 

^'  First  of  all,  you  must  know  that 
Seek-Seek  is  an  old  family  name  which 
has  been  handed  down  just  as  the  pat- 
tern of  my  coat  has  been.  The  very 
first  of  all  my  great-great-grandfathers 
was  called  Seek-Seek.  When  Old 
Mother  Nature  made  Seek-Seek  she 
must  have  had  two  families  in  mind  at 
one  time,  the  Marmot  family  and  the 
Squirrel  family,  for  she  made  him  a 


178  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

little  like  each,  so  that  in  his  looks  he 
sort  of  fitted  in  between  the  two. 
Mother  Nature  told  him  that  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Squirrel  family  and  set 
him  free  to  find  a  place  for  himself  in 
the  Great  World. 

"  Now  it  didn't  take  Grandfather 
Seek-Seek  long  to  find  out  that  though 
he  might  be  a  member  of  the  Squirrel 
family,  Old  Mother  Nature  had  failed 
to  furnish  him  with  the  right  kind  of 
claws  for  climbing  trees,  as  most  of 
his  cousins  did.  True,  he  could  climb 
a  little,  but  it  was  not  easy,  and  he  felt 
anything  but  comfortable  off  the 
ground.  But  if  those  claws  were  of 
little  use  for  climbing  they  were  splen- 
did tools  for  digging,  just  as  are  the 
claws  of  the  Marmot  family.  So  Old 
Mother  Nature  must  have  been  think- 
ing of  the  Marmots  when  she  fashioned 
those  claws. 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT    179 

''  At  first  Seek-Seek  wandered  about 
trying  to  find  a  place  for  himself  in  the 
Great  World.  Being  a  Squirrel,  he 
tried  to  live  as  did  his  cousins,  Mr. 
Eed  Squirrel  and  Mr.  Gray  Squirrel, 
but  on  account  of  those  claws  he  didn't 
make  much  of  a  success  of  it.  Then 
one  day  he  met  Mr.  Chipmunk.  They 
stopped  and  stared  at  each  other  in 
surprise  because,  you  know,  their  coats 
were  so  much  alike.  At  that  time 
Seek-Seek  was  wearing  plain  stripes, 
just  as  Striped  Chipmimk  does  to  this 
day. 

''  *  What  do  you  mean  by  stealing 
my  coat^  '  demanded  Mr.  Chipmunk 
angrily. 

*^  *  I  was  just  about  to  ask  you  the 
same  question,'  retorted  Seek-Seek. 

**  Mr.  Chipmunk  had  a  sharp  reply 
right  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue,  but  he 
checked  it  just  in  time.    '  What's  the 


180  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

use  of  quarreling  over  something 
neither  of  us  had  anything  to  do 
with?  '  said  he.  '  It  must  be  that  we 
are  cousins.    Where  do  you  live?  ' 

**  Seek-Seek  explained  that  he  didn't 
live  anywhere  in  particular  but  was 
trying  to  find  his  place  in  the  Great 
World.  He  told  how  he  had  tried  to 
live  like  the  other  Squirrels  and  failed. 
*  I  know!  I  know  all  about  it/  inter- 
rupted Mr.  Chipmunk.  *  IVe  been  all 
through  it.  The  place  for  us  is  on 
the  ground  or  at  least  close  to  it. 
Come  see  how  I  live. ' 

^'  So  Seek-Seek  w^ent  with  Mr.  Chip- 
munk and  saw  how  he  lived  among  the 
rocks  and  stones.  For  a  time  he  tried 
living  there  too,  but  he  didn't  like  the 
rocks  and  stones  much  better  than  he 
did  the  trees.  Besides,  all  the  neigh- 
bors were  forever  mistaking  him  for 
Mr.  Chipmunk  because  they  looked  so 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT    181 

mucli  alike,  and  he  didn't  like  this. 
One  day  he  wandered  out  on  the  Green 
Meadows.  It  was  very  lovely  out 
there  among  the  grasses  and  flowers. 
He  wandered  farther  and  farther,  and 
the  farther  he  wandered  the  better  he 
liked  it.  By  and  by  he  came  to  the 
home  of  Yap- Yap  the  Prairie  Dog,  who 
is  one  of  the  Marmot  family,  as  you 
know. 

*^  *  A  home  like  that  would  suit  me,* 
thought  Grandfather  Seek-Seek  wist- 
fully, as  he  journeyed  on.  ^  I  wonder 
if  I  could  dig  one.    I  believe  I'll  try.' 

^^  So  when  he  found  a  place  to  suit 
him  he  began  to  dig.  There  were  no 
stones  to  hurt  his  feet  and  dull  his 
nails,  and  he  actually  enjoyed  digging. 
So  he  dug  and  dug  until  he  had  a  won- 
derful undergroimd  home.  All  about 
were  plenty  of  seeds  and  tender 
grasses  to  eat,  and  he  was  happy.    He 


182  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

had  found  Ms  place  in  the  Great 
[World.  Then  one  day  along  came  Old 
Mother  Nature.  '  Hello,  Mr.  Chip- 
munk,' she  exclaimed,  as  she  caught 
sight  of  his  striped  coat,  '  what  are 
you  doing  way  out  here?  ' 

*'  Then  she  discovered  her  mistake. 
*  Dear  me,'  said  she,  *  this  will  never 
do  at  all.  If  I  can't  tell  my  own  chil- 
dren apart,  how  can  I  expect  others  to? 
Your  coat  is  altogether  too  much  like 
that  of  Mr.  Chipmunk.  I  must  change 
it.    I  certainly  must  change  it. ' 

**  She  leaned  over  and  lightly  tapped 
Seek-Seek  right  down  the  length  of  the 
broadest  brown  stripe  of  his  coat. 
Wherever  her  finger  touched  a  little 
spot  of  yellow  was  left.  Then  she  did 
the  same  thing  to  each  of  the  other 
brown  stripes.  When  she  had  finished 
Grandfather  Seek-Seek  had  a  coat  ex- 
actly like  the  one  I  am  now  wearing, 


WHERE  SEEK-SEEK  GOT  HIS  COAT    183 

and  Ms  cup  of  happiness  was  filled  to 
the  brim.  From  that  day  on  he  never 
was  mistaken  for  Mr.  Chipmunk  or 
any  one  else.  That's  the  story  of  my 
coat,  and  now  I  must  get  busy  collect- 
ing seeds  for  my  storehouse,"  con- 
cluded Seek-Seek.  "  Come  and  see  me 
again,  Peter  Rabbit." 

''  I  will,"  replied  Peter,  as  he  started 
for  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  to  tell 
Mrs.  Peter  all  about  Seek-Seek  and  his 
pretty  coat. 


xin 

WHERE  OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNED  TO 
PISH 


XTTT 

WHERE  OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNED  TO  FISH 

PETER  RABBIT  had  seen  a  very 
strange  thing.  It  was  strange 
to  Peter,  anyway.  It  gave  him 
something  to  think  about,  and  this,  I 
am  sure  you  will  agree,  was  a  most  ex- 
cellent thing,  for  it  kept  him  out  of 
mischief  for  a  while.  He  had  been  over 
to  the  Smiling  Pool  for  a  call  on  Jerry 
Muskrat  and  had  just  started  back  for 
the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  when  he 
chanced  to  look  over  in  the  direction 
of  the  Big  River.  Coming  straight 
towards  him,  but  high  in  the  air,  was 
a  big  bird,  a  bird  with  broad  wings. 
Peter   didn't   have    to   look   twice   to 


188  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

know  that  it  was  a  member  of  the 
Hawk  family.  At  first  he  thought  it 
was  Eedtail.  Then  he  caught  a  flash 
of  white,  and  he  thought  it  was  White- 
tail  the  Marsh  Hawk,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  it  didn't  fly  like  him,  Peter 
didn't  stop  to  think  of  that.  It  was 
enough  for  him  that  a  member  of  the 
Hawk  family  was  headed  that  way, 
and  he  didn't  care  a  twitch  of  his 
funny  little  tail  which  member  it  was. 
He  felt  that  the  stomach  of  one  was 
quite  as  undesirable  a  place  for  Peter 
Rabbit  as  the  stomach  of  another,  and 
he  had  no  intention  of  filling  any  if 
he  could  help  it. 

He  remembered  that  there  was  an 
old  house  of  Johnny  Chuck's  under  the 
Big  Hickory-tree  on  the  bank  of  the 
Smiling  Pool,  and  he  wasted  no  time  in 
getting  there,  lipperty-lipperty-lip,  as 
fast  as  he  could  go.     He  would  stay 


OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNS  TO  FISH  189 

there  until  the  way  was  clear  to  get 
home  to  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch.  As 
soon  as  he  was  safe  in  the  old  house 
of  Johnny  Chuck,  he  turned  and  poked 
his  head  out  of  the  doorway.  He 
wanted  to  see  if  any  one  would  be 
caught.  He  hoped  not,  but  if  any  one 
was  caught,  he  wanted  to  see.  You 
know  Peter  never  misses  anything  if 
he  can  help  it.  On  came  Mr.  Hawk, 
and  when  he  was  right  over  the  Smil- 
ing Pool,  he  turned  and  made  a  short 
circle  high  in  the  air.  Then  Peter  saw 
that  he  had  a  white  waist-coat  and  was 
a  stranger. 

'^  I  w^onder  who  he  is?  "  thought 
Peter,  staring  very  hard.  *'  He's 
bigger  than  either  RedtaU  or  White- 
taU.  I  hope  he  isn't  going  to  make  his 
home  here,  because  we  have  trouble 
enough  as  it  is." 

Suddenly  Mr.  Hawk  paused  high  up 


190  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

in  the  air,  then  closed  his  wings  and 
shot  straight  down  like  an  arrow. 
Plunge!  Peter  couldn't  believe  his 
own  eyes.  Mr.  Hawk  actually  had  dis- 
appeared in  the  Smiling  Pool!  A  sec- 
ond later  there  was  a  great  splashing, 
and  out  of  the  water  rose  Mr.  Hawk, 
flapping  his  great  wings  heavily,  scat- 
tering spray  in  all  directions.  Up,  up 
he  went,  and  then  Peter  saw  that  in 
his  great  claws  was  a  fish.  Peter 
watched  him  fly  away  with  the  fish, 
and  when  he  felt  that  it  was  quite  safe 
to  do  so,  he  came  out.  Over  on  the 
end  of  an  xAd  log  among  the  bulrushes 
sat  Jerry  Muskrat  just  where  Peter 
had  left  him.  It  was  very  plain  that 
Jerry  hadn't  been  the  least  bit  fright- 
ened by  Mr.  Hawk.  Peter  couldn't 
imderstand  it.  His  eyes  fairly  popped 
out  of  his  head  with  excitement  and 
curiosity* 


OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNS  TO  FISH  191 

^*  Who  was  that?  "  he  asked  eagerly. 

''  That?  Why,  that  was  Plunger  the 
Osprey,  though  some  people  caU  him 
Fish  Hawk,"  replied  Jerry.  '^  I 
thought  everybody  knew  him.  Why 
did  you  run  away,  Peter?  He  wouldn't 
hurt  you." 

^^  Huh!  I  wouldn't  trust  any 
Hawk!  "  snapped  Peter. 

'^  Which  goes  to  show  how  little  you 
know!  "  retorted  Jerry  Muskrat. 
^*  Plunger  never  bothers  anybody  but 
the  fish,  but  he  surely  is  a  terror  to 
them.  Old  Mother  Nature  knew  what 
she  was  doing  when  she  made  fisher- 
men out  of  that  family,  didn't  she?  " 

^^  She  certainly  did,  though  I've 
never  heard  how  she  came  to  do  it. 
How  did  it  happen,  Jerry?  "  Peter 
was  doing  some  fishing  himself.  He 
was  fishing  for  a  story. 

Jerry    Muskrat    grinned.      ^'  Think 


192  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

you  11  sleep  any  better  if  I  tell  you?  '' 
he  inquired. 

Peter  grinned  back  and  nodded.    So 
Jerry  Muskrat  told  liim  this  story: 

^*  Way  back  iq  the  days  when  the 
world  was  young,  and  the  great-great- 
ever-so-great-grandfathers  of  all  the 
little  people  of  the  Green  Meadows 
and  the  Green  Forest  of  today  were  be 
ing  started  out  in  life  by  Old  Mothei 
Nature,  they  had  everything  to  learn. 
The  Great  World  was  a  new  place,  and 
they  were  new  in  it.  No  one  knew 
exactly  his  place  or  what  was  expected 
of  him,  and  Old  Mother  Nature  was 
too  busy  to  be  bothered  with  questions. 
She  expected  each  one  to  work  out  for 
himself  a  way  in  which  to  make  him- 
self useful,  or  at  least  to  take  care  of 
himself,  without  bothering  her.  If 
he  couldn't  do  that,  she  didn't  want 
him  around  at  all,  and  the  sooner  some- 


OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNS  TO  FISH  193 

thing  happened  to  him  the  better.  So 
the  Great  World  began  to  be  peopled 
with  birds  and  animals. 

*'  It  didn't  take  them  long  to  learn 
that  it  wouldn't  be  possible  for  all  to 
live  if  they  all  ate  the  same  kind  of 
food.  So  some  learned  to  eat  one  thing 
and  some  another,  and  all  went  happily 
TUitil  there  came  a  time  when  all  food 
was  scarce,  and  more  stomachs  were 
empty  than  full.  You've  heard  about 
that  hard  time  and  sad  time?  " 

Peter  nodded,  and  Jerry  took  a 
drink  of  water  and  then  went  on  with 
his  tale. 

''  Of  course,  that  was  really  a  very 
dreadful  time,  for  it  was  then  that 
the  strong  began  to  hunt  the  weak,  and 
fear  was  bom  into  the  world.  And 
yet  I  guess  it  wasn't  wholly  bad. 
Nothing  is,  so  far  as  I  can  find  out. 
Anyway,  because  of  that  hard  time, 


194  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

everybody  became  a  little  smarter  than 
before.  You  know  an  empty  stomach 
sharpens  wit,  and  fear  puts  a  fine  edge 
on  it.  Now  Mr.  Osprey,  who  was  one 
of  the  biggest  of  the  cousins  of  old 
King  Eagle,  couldn't  get  over  a  feeling 
of  meanness  whenever  he  hunted  those 
smaller  than  himself.  One  day  he 
caught  lit  Je  Mr.  Sparrow  when  little 
Mr.  Sparrow  was  so  busy  that  he  for- 
got to  watch  out. 

'^  '  I'm  powerful  sorry,  Mr.  Sparrow,^ 
apologized  Mr,  Osprey,  ^  but  there's 
an  emptiness  just  about  your  size  in 
my  stomach,  and  it  won't  give  me  any 
peace  of  mind  until  it's  filled.  I  hate 
to  make  a  neighbor  uncomfortable,  and 
I'll  be  just  as  quick  and  accommodat- 
ing about  this  little  matter  as  I  can. 
If  you'll  just  shut  your  eyes,  you  won't 
see  anything  unpleasant,  and  I  won't 
be  a  minute  in  getting  that  peace  of 


OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNS  TO  FISH  195 

mind  I've  been  without  so  long.  I 
just  must  have  it,  or  I  wouldn't  bother 
you  at  all.  I  hope  you  won't  hold  it 
against  me,  Mr.  Sparrow.' 

^^  Mr.  Osprey  was  so  nice  and  polite 
about  it  that  little  Mr.  Sparrow  perked 
up  a  little  and  started  his  wits  working. 
He  tried  to  be  just  as  nice  and  polite 
as  Mr.  Osprey.  ^  I  know  just  how  you 
feel,  Mr.  Osprey,'  said  he,  in  a  trem- 
bling voice,  ^  and  during  these  hard 
times  I've  had  that  same  ailment  of 
the  mind  because  of  lonesomeness  of 
the  stomach,  which  is  troubling  you. 
So  long  as  that  emptiness  is  filled,  I 
don't  suppose  it  matters  to  you  if  I 
shouldn't  happen  to  fill  it.' 

"  *  Not  at  all,'  replied  Mr.  Osprey. 

*^ '  Mr.  Osprey,'  said  little  Mr.  Spar- 
row very  earnestly,  '  if  I  were  in  your 
place,  I  never  would  go  himgry.  No, 
Sir,  I  never  would  go  hungry.    And  I 


196  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

certainly  never,  never  would  trouble 
any  of  my  neighbors  who  wear  feath- 
ers. I  certainly  would  feel  most  happy 
if  Old  Mother  Nature  had  given  me 
what  she  has  given  you.  Indeed  I 
would.' 

**  Mr.  Osprey  looked  down  at  little 
Mr.  Sparrow  and  blinked  at  him  in  a 
puzzled  way.  *  What  has  Old  Mother 
Nature  given  me  that  you  would  be 
happy  to  have?  '  he  asked. 

'*  *  Fishhooks!  '  replied  little  Mr. 
Sparrow,  pointing  to  Mr.  Osprey 's 
great  claws,  ^  the  finest  fishhooks  in 
the  world.  You  don't  hear  Billy  Mink 
or  Little  Joe  Otter  or  Mr.  Heron  com- 
plaining about  hard  times.  Why?  Be- 
cause they  don't  know  what  hard  times 
are.  There  are  plenty  of  fish  to  be 
caught,  and  when  they  are  hungry 
they  go  fishing.  Fish  are  very  filling 
and  satisfying,  I've  heard  say.    When 


OLD  MR.  OSPREY  LEARNS  TO  FISH  197 

I  flew  across  the  Smiling  Pool  a  little 
while  ago,  I  saw  a  fat  fish  taking  a 
sun-bath  right  close  to  the  top  of  the 
water.  Seemed  like  he  was  just  wait- 
ing for  some  one  with  hooks  to  come 
along  and  snatch  him  right  out  of  the 
water.' 

'*  '  Where 'd  you  say  that  fish  was?  ' 
asked  Mr.  Osprey. 

*^  ^  If  you'll  let  me  go,  I'll  show  you,' 
replied  little  Mr.  Sparrow. 

''  So  Mr.  Osprey  let  little  Mr.  Spar- 
row go,  but  he  followed  him  right  close. 
Mr.  Sparrow  led  the  way  straight  to 
the  Smiling  Pool.  Sure  enough,  there 
was  the  big  fish  taking  a  sun-bath. 
Mr.  Osprey  hardly  wet  his  feet  putting 
those  big  hooks  into  that  fish.  He  flew 
away  with  it,  and  presently  he  was  rid 
of  that  emptiness  iu  his  stomach  and 
had  back  his  peace  of  mind.  After 
that,  whenever  he  was  hungry,  he  went 


198  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

fishing  instead  of  hunting  the  birds  and 
the  animals.  By  practice  he  learned 
how  to  use  those  big  fishhooks  of  his 
and  became  one  of  the  smartest  of  all 
fishermen.  He  and  little  Mr.  Sparrow 
became  great  friends,  in  fact,  such 
friends  that  when  Mr.  Osprey  built  a 
great  nest,  little  Mr.  Sparrow  built  his 
right  in  the  side  of  it,  and  there  he  was 
perfectly  safe  from  others  who  might 
be  hunting  him.  And  it's  been  just 
that  way  ever  since.  If  you  wore 
scales  instead  of  fur,  and  lived  in  the 
water  instead  of  on  the  land,  Peter 
Rabbit,  you  would  have  reason  to  fear 
Plunger  the  Osprey,  but  as  it  is,  you 
are  safer  when  he  is  about  than  when 
he  isn't.  There  comes  old  Eedtail  the 
Hawk.  You'd  better  get  out  of  sight, 
Peter." 
Peter  did. 


xrv 

WHERE  OLD  MR.  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS 
HONOR 


XIV 

WHERE  OLD  MR.   BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR 

OP  all  those  who  are  forever  try- 
ing to  catch  Peter  Rabbit,  he 
fears  none  more  than  Yowler 
the  Bob-cat.  And  from  that  fear  has 
grown  hate.  You  will  find  it  true  all 
through  life  that  hate  often  springs 
from  great  fear.  Peter  isn't  much 
given  to  hate,  but  he  does  hate  Yowler 
the  Bob-cat.  It  is  partly  because  of 
his  fear  of  Yowler,  but  it  is  still  more 
because  he  feels  that  Yowler  is  not 
fair  in  his  hunting.  He  has  no  honor. 
There  are  many  others  whom  Peter 
fears,  —  Reddy  Pox,  Old  Man  Coyote, 
Hooty  the  Owl,  —  and  with  very  good 


202  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

reason.  But  Peter  considers  that  these 
hunt  him  fairly.  He  knows  when  and 
where  to  be  on  the  watch  for  them. 

But  with  Yowler  it  is  altogether  dif- 
ferent. Yowler  hides  beside  one  of 
Peter's  favorite  little  paths,  and  there 
he  waits  patiently  for  unsuspecting 
Peter  to  come  along.  He  waits  and 
watches  much  as  Black  Pussy,  who  is 
a  cousin  of  Yowler,  waits  and  watches 
at  a  mousehole.  Peter  feels  that  it 
doesn't  give  him  a  chance,  and  every- 
body is  entitled  to  at  least  a  chance  to 
live. 

*'  I  hate  him!  hate  him!  hate  him!  " 
exclaimed  Peter  fiercely,  as  he  crawled 
under  the  very  middle  of  a  great  pile 
of  brush  after  the  narrowest  of  narrow 
escapes.  He  had  been  hopping  along 
one  of  his  favorite  little  paths  without 
a  thought  of  danger.  Presently  he 
came  to  a  little  branch  path.    There  he 


WHERE  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR    203 

hesitated.  He  had  intended  to  keep 
on  along  the  main  path,  but  suddenly 
he  had  a  feeling  that  it  would  be  better 
to  take  the  branch  path.  He  knew  no 
reason  why  he  shouldn't  keep  on  as  he 
had  planned.  It  was  just  a  feeling 
that  it  would  be  better  to  take  the 
other  path,  a  feeling  without  any  real 
reason.  So  he  hesitated  and  finally 
turned  down  the  little  branch  path. 
As  he  did  so  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a 
brown  form  moving  stealthily  from 
behind  a  log  farther  up  the  main  little 
path.  It  was  moving  swiftly  in  the 
direction  of  the  little  branch  path. 
That  glimpse  was  enough  for  Peter. 
That  stealthy  form  could  be  but  one 
person  —  Towler  the  Bob-cat.  He 
turned  and  darted  back  the  way  he  had 
come  and  then  off  to  one  side  to  the 
great  pile  of  brush  imder  which  he  had 
crawled. 


204  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

^'  Who  is  it  you  hate? "  asked  a 
voice. 

For  just  a  second  Peter  was  startled, 
then  he  recognized  the  voice  of  Mrs. 
Grouse,  one  of  his  very  best  friends. 
*^  Yowler  the  Bob-cat,"  said  he  as 
fiercely  as  before. 

^'  I  don't  love  him  myself,"  replied 
Mrs.  Grouse.  '^  I  suspected  that  he 
was  somewhere  about,  and  that  is  why 
I  am  here.    Did  you  see  him?  " 

''  Yes,"  said  Peter, ''  I  saw  him.  He 
was  hiding  beside  my  favorite  little 
path,  and  it  is  a  wonder  I  didn't 
hop  straight  into  his  jaws.  That  fel- 
low doesn't  himt  fairly.  He  doesn't 
give  us  a  chance.  He  hasn't  any 
honor." 

*^  Honor!  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Grouse. 
**  Honor!  Of  course  he  hasn't  any 
honor.  There  hasn't  been  any  honor 
in    Yowler 's    family    since     old    Mr. 


WHERE  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR    205 

Bob-cat,  the  first  of  all  the  Bob-cats, 
left  his  honor  in  Turkey  Wood,  way 
back  in  the  days  when  the  world  was 
young,  and  failed  to  get  it  again. 
Honor!  Of  course  Yowler  hasn't  any. 
What  could  you  expect?  '' 

At  once  Peter  was  all  ears.  ^^  IVe 
never  heard  about  that,"  said  he. 
''  Tell  me  about  it,  Mrs.  Grouse. 
We've  got  to  stay  right  where  we  are 
for  a  long  time  to  make  sure  that 
Yowler  has  given  us  up  and  gone  away, 
so  you  will  have  plenty  of  time  to  tell 
me  the  story.  Where  was  Turkey 
Wood,  and  how  did  old  Mr.  Bob-cat 
happen  to  leave  his  honor  there?  " 

*'  He  didn't  happen  to;  he  did  it  de- 
liberately," replied  Mrs.  Grouse. 
^'  You  see,  it  was  like  this:  In  the  be- 
ginning of  things,  when  Old  Mother 
Nature  made  the  first  little  people  and 
the  first  big  people  of  the  Green  Forest 


206  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

and  the  Green  Meadows,  she  was  too 
busy  to  watch  over  them  all  the  time, 
so  for  a  while  she  put  them  on  their 
honor  not  to  harm  one  another  or  in- 
terfere with  one  another  in  any  way, 
for  she  wanted  them  to  live  in  peace 
and  happiness  and  raise  families  to 
people  the  Great  World. 

'*  Now  it  chanced  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gobbler,  the  first  of  the  Turkey  family, 
chose  a  certain  little  grove  of  trees  in 
which  to  make  their  home,  and  it  be- 
came known  as  Turkey  Wood.  There, 
in  course  of  time,  Mrs.  Turkey  made 
her  nest  on  the  ground,  well  hidden 
among  some  bushes,  and  in  it  laid 
twelve  big  eggs.  It  was  the  day  on 
which  she  laid  the  twelfth  big  egg  that 
old  Mr.  Bob-cat,  who,  of  course,  wasn't 
old  then,  took  it  into  his  head  to  prowl 
about  in  Turkey  Wood.  Already  Mr. 
Bob-cat  had  begim  to  form  a  sneaky 


WHERE  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR     207 

habit  of  stealth.  He  was  very  fond  of 
watching  his  neighbors  to  find  out 
what  they  were  about,  and  it  was  this 
fondness  of  minding  the  business  of 
other  people  instead  of  his  own  that 
was  making  him  sneaky  and  stealthy, 
for  of  course  he  didn't  want  any  one 
to  know  what  he  was  doing. 

^*  It  happened  that  as  he  stole  into 
Turkey  Wood,  Mrs.  Gobbler  left  her 
nest  to  get  a  bite  to  eat.  Mr.  Bob-cat 
saw  her,  but  she  didn't  see  him.  He 
crouched  flat  untU  she  was  out  of  sight. 

**  ^  She  seemed  mighty  careful  about 
how  she  slipped  out  of  those  bushes,' 
thought  Mr.  Bob-cat.  '  She  acted  as  if 
she  didn't  want  to  be  seen.  I  wonder 
why.  I  wonder  if  she  has  a  secret 
hidden  in  those  bushes.  I  suppose  the 
way  to  find  out  is  to  look.' 

'*  First  making  sure  that  no  one  saw 
him,  Mr.  Bob-cat  crept  in  his  sneaky 


208  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

way  into  the  bushes,  and  it  didn't  take 
him  long  to  find  that  nest  with  the 
twelve  big  eggs.  He  didn't  know  what 
they  were,  for  they  were  the  first  eggs 
he  had  ever  seen.  He  stared  at  them 
and  wondered  if  they  were  good  to  eat. 
He  glanced  this  way  and  that  way  to 
be  sure  that  no  one  was  watching  him. 

**  *  Don't  touch  them,'  warned  some- 
thing inside  of  hhn.  ^  These  belong  to 
Mrs.  Gobbler,  and  Old  Mother  Nature 
has  put  you  on  your  honor  not  to  in- 
terfere with  others  or  their  affairs.' 

*^  *  It  won't  do  any  harm  just  to 
touch  them  and  see  what  they  are  like,' 
said  another  little  tempting  voice  in- 
side of  him. 

"  *  Remember  your  honor,'  warned 
the  first  little  voice. 

"  *  Bother  my  honor!  I'm  not  going 
to  do  any  harm,'  muttered  Mr.  Bob- 
cat, and  picked  up  one  of  the  eggs  in 


WHERE  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR     209 

his  mouth.  He  tried  it  with  his  teeth 
to  see  if  it  was  hard,  and  of  course 
he  put  his  teeth  right  through  the  shell. 
He  started  to  put  it  back  in  a  hurry, 
but  just  then  he  noticed  a  good  taste 
in  his  mouth.  The  inside  of  that  egg 
was  good  to  eat,  very  good  indeed! 

'^  '  One  won't  be  missed,'  thought 
Mr.  Bob-cat,  and  then,  fearing  that 
Mrs.  Gobbler  would  return,  he  bounded 
away,  taking  the  egg  with  him. 

**  When  Mrs.  Gobbler  returned,  she 
did  miss  that  egg.  She  looked  all 
about  for  it,  but  there  was  nothing  to 
show  what  had  become  of  it.  With  a 
troubled  mind  she  began  to  sit  on  her 
eggs.  She  was  so  worried  that  she 
didn't  leave  them  until  she  simply  had 
to  get  something  to  eat. 

*'  Meanwhile  Mr.  Bob-cat  had  eaten 
that  egg,  and  it  had  tasted  so  good 
that  he  could  think  of  nothing  but  how 


210   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

he  could  get  another.  So  at  the  first 
opportunity  he  sneaked  back  to 
Turkey  Wood,  and  without  making  a 
sound  crept  in  among  the  bushes  until 
he  could  see  Mrs.  Gobbler  sitting  on 
her  eggs.  There  he  lay  and  watched 
and  watched  imtil  Mrs.  Gobbler  left 
to  get  something  to  eat.  No  sooner 
was  she  out  of  sight  than  Mr.  Bob-cat 
stole  to  the  nest. 

'^  ^  Remember  your  honor,'  warned 
the  little  voice  inside. 

'^  *  Bother  honor.  I'd  rather  have  an 
egg,'  muttered  Mr.  Bob-cat,  and  pulled 
one  out  of  the  nest.  He  bit  a  hole  in 
one  end  and  sucked  out  the  contents. 
It  was  so  good  he  took  another.  This 
led  to  a  third,  and  finally  Mr.  Bob-cat 
had  sucked  every  one  of  those  eggs. 
Then  silently  he  sneaked  away  —  away 
from  Turkey  Wood  to  a  distant  part 
of  the  Green  Forest.    Behind  him  in 


WHERE  BOB-CAT  LEFT  HIS  HONOR     211 

Turkey   Wood   he   left    a   nestful    of 
empty  shells  and  his  honor. 

^*  *  Nobody  knows  who  did  it,  and 
nobody  ever  will  find  out,'  thought  Mr. 
Bob-cat,  but  all  the  time  he  knew  that 
he  had  left  his  honor  behind,  and  this 
made  him  more  sneaky  than  ever.  He 
never  would  meet  any  one  face  to  face. 
You  know  that  is  something  that  one 
who  has  lost  his  honor  never  can  do. 
It  wasn't  long  before  all  his  neighbors 
knew  that  he  was  without  honor,  and 
so  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him. 
They  shunned  him.  He  grew  to  be 
more  and  more  of  a  sneak.  And  all  the 
time  he  believed  that  no  one  knew 
what  he  had  done  or  where  he  had  left 
his  honor. 

''  But  Old  Mother  Nature  knew.  Of 
course  Mrs.  Gobbler  told  her  what  had 
happened  to  her  eggs.  Old  Mother 
Nature  told  her  to  make  a  new  nest 


212  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

and  hide  it  more  carefully  than  before, 
which  Mrs.  Gobbler  did  and  hatched 
out  ten  fine  young  Gobblers.  Mean- 
while Old  Mother  Nature  went  about 
her  business,  but  all  the  time  she  was 
watching  to  see  who  would  fail  to  look 
her  straight  in  the  face.  The  first 
time  she  met  Mr.  Bob-cat  he  tried  to 
slip  past  unseen.  When  Old  Mother 
Nature  stepped  in  front  of  him,  he 
couldn't  look  her  in  the  face,  try  as  he 
would. 

''  '  Ah-ha!  '  said  she.  ^  You  are  the 
one  who  left  his  honor  in  Turkey  Wood. 
From  this  time  forth  you  shall  be  an 
outcast,  friendless  and  alone,  hated  by 
every  one/ 

^'  And  so  it  was,  and  has  been  ever 
since.  And  so  it  is  with  Yowler  today. 
You  said  truly,  Peter,  that  he  hasn't 
any  honor.    Isn't  it  dreadful?  " 

And  Peter  agreed  that  it  is. 


XV 


WHERE  DIPPY  THE  LOON  GOT  THE 
NAME  OF  BEING  CRAZY 


XV 

WHERE  DIPPY  THE  LOON  GOT  THE  NAME  OP 
BEING  CRAZY 

AS  you  all  know,  Peter  Rabbit  is 
out  and  about  at  a  time  when 
most  folks  are  snugly  tucked 
in  bed.  The  fact  is,  Peter  is  very 
fond  of  roaming  around  at  night.  He 
says  he  feels  safer  then  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  some  of  his  smartest  enemies 
are  also  out  and  about,  among  them 
Hooty  the  Owl  and  Reddy  Fox  and 
Old  Man  Coyote.  The  two  latter  also 
hunt  by  day  when  the  fancy  takes 
them  or  they  have  been  so  unsuccess- 
ful at  night  that  their  stomachs  won't 
give  them  any  peace,  and  Peter  is  sure 
that  though  they  can  see  very  well  at 


216   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

night,  they  can  see  still  better  in  the 
light  of  day.  Anyway,  that  is  one  of 
the  reasons  he  gives  for  his  own  liking 
for  roaming  after  jolly,  round,  red 
Mr.  Sun  has  gone  to  bed  behind  the 
Purple  Hills. 

Now  it  happened  one  moonlight 
night  that  Peter  had  ventured  way 
over  almost  to  the  Big  River.  He  had 
heard  Hooty  the  Owl's  fierce  hunting 
call  far  off  in  the  Green  Eorest.  He 
had  heard  Reddy  Fox  barking  up  in 
the  Old  Pasture.  So  Peter  felt  quite 
safe.  He  felt  so  safe  that  he  had 
almost  forgotten  that  there  could  be 
such  a  thing  as  fear.  And  then,  from 
the  direction  of  the  Big  River,  there 
came  such  a  sound  as  Peter  never  had 
heard  before.  It  was  a  sound  that 
made  his  heart  seem  to  quite  stop 
beating  for  an  instant.  It  was  a  sound 
that  sent  cold  chiUs  racing  and  chas- 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY  217 

ing  all  over  him.  It  was  a  sound  that 
made  him  wish  with  all  his  might  that 
he  was  that  instant  right  in  the  heart 
of  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch  instead  of 
way  over  there  near  the  bank  of  the 
Big  River. 

He  didn't  waste  much  time  getting 
back  to  the  dear  Old  Briar-patch,  once 
he  was  sure  his  heart  hadn't  really 
stopped  beating.  The  way  he  went 
across  the  Green  Meadows,  lipperty- 
lipperty-lip,  lipperty-lipperty-lip,  was 
positive  proof  that  in  spite  of  his 
fright  his  heart  was  quite  all  right. 
He  didn't  run  a  little  way,  stop,  run  a 
little  farther  and  stop  again,  as  is  his 
usual  way.  He  kept  lipperty-lipperty- 
lipping  without  a  single  stop  until  he 
reached  the  edge  of  the  dear  Old  Briar- 
patch  and  once  more  felt  really  safe. 
Two  or  three  times  he  had  felt  that  he 
must  stop  to  get  his  breath,  but  each 


218  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

time  that  sound,  that  dreadful  sound, 
had  seemed  to  be  following  right  at 
his  heels,  and  he  had  suddenly  dis- 
covered that  he  didn't  need  to  stop 
after  all. 

But  having  reached  the  dear  Old 
Briar-patch  Peter  stopped  and  panted 
for  breath  while  he  anxiously  watched 
for  the  appearance  of  some  unknown 
enemy  following  him.  It  was  then 
that  he  realized  that  that  sound  came 
from  the  Big  River,  and  that  whoever 
made  it  had  not  left  the  Big  River  at 
all.  It  made  Peter  feel  a  wee  bit 
foolish  as  he  thought  how  he  had  been 
sure  that  there  was  danger  right  at  his 
very  heels  all  the  way  home,  when  all 
the  time  there  hadn't  been  any  danger 
at  aU. 

Peter  sat  there  and  listened,  and 
despite  the  fact  that  he  now  felt  abso- 
lutely safe,  the   cold  chills  ran  over 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY    219 

him  every  time  he  heard  it.  It  was  a 
voice;  Peter  was  sure  of  that.  It  was 
a  voice,  but  such  a  voice  as  Peter  never 
in  his  life  had  heard  before.  It  was 
quite  as  bad  if  not  worse  than  the 
voice  of  Old  Man  Coyote.  In  a  way 
it  reminded  him  of  Old  Man  Coyote's 
voice,  but  while  Old  Man  Coyote's 
voice  sounded  like  many  voices  in  one, 
it  was  not  so  fearsome  as  this  voice, 
for  this  voice  sounded  like  a  human 
voice,  yet  wasn't.  Something  inside 
Peter  told  him  that  it  wasn't  a  human 
voice,  in  spite  of  its  sounding  so. 

The  next  morning  Peter  ran  over  to 
the  Smiling  Pool  to  ask  Grandfather 
Frog  if  he  had  any  idea  who  could  have 
such  a  voice  as  that.  When  he  tried  to 
tell  Grandfather  Frog  what  that  voice 
was  like,  he  couldn't.  He  just  couldn't 
describe  it. 

**  It  was  the  lonesomest  and  craziest 


220  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

sound  IVe  ever  heard,"  declared 
Peter,  *^  and  that  is  all  I  can  tell  you. 
It  was  crazier  than  the  voice  of  Old 
Man  Coyote." 

**  That  is  all  you  need  teU  me," 
chuckled  Grandfather  Frog.  ''  That 
was  the  voice  of  Dippy  the  Loon. 
And  let  me  tell  you  something,  Peter: 
you  are  not  the  first  one  to  think  his 
voice  has  a  crazy  sound.  Oh,  my,  no! 
No,  indeed!  Why,  a  lot  of  people 
think  Dippy  is  crazy,  and  when  any 
one  does  queer  things  they  say  of  him 
that  he  is  *  crazy  as  a  Loon.' 

**  But  is  he  crazy?  "  asked  Peter. 

*'  Chug-a-rum!  "  exclaimed  Grand- 
father Frog.  *^  Chug-a-rum!  Not  half 
so  crazy  as  you  are,  Peter,  coming  over 
here  to  the  Smiling  Pool  in  broad  day- 
light. He  likes  to  he  thought  crazy, 
just  as  his  great-great-ever-so-great- 
frandfather  did  before  him,  that's  all. 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY    221 

Everybody  thought  his  great-great- 
ever-so-great-grandfather  was  crazy, 
and  it  paid  Mr.  Loon  to  have  them 
think  so.  So  he  did  his  best  to  make 
them  keep  thinking  so." 

^*  Tell  me  about  it.  Do  please  tell 
me  about  it,  Grandfather  Frog," 
begged  Peter.  ''  Please,  please, 
please." 

Now  how  could  Grandfather  Frog 
resist  that?  He  couldn't.  He  didn't 
even  try  to.  He  just  cleared  his  throat 
once  or  twice  and  began. 

**  Once  on  a  time,  long,  long  ago, 
lived  the  very  first  of  all  the  Loons, 
the  ever-and-ever-and-ever-so-great- 
grandfather  of  Dippy,  whose  voice 
frightened  you  so  last  night." 

''  How  did  you  know  it  frightened 
me? "  exclaimed  Peter,  for  he  had 
taken  care  not  to  tell  Grandfather 
Frog  anything  about  that. 


222  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Grrandf ather  Prog  chuckled  and  went 
right  on  with  his  story.  ^'  Right  from 
the  beginning  Mr.  Loon  was  a  mighty 
independent  fellow.  It  didn't  take 
him  long  to  find  out  that  Old  Mother 
Nature  had  too  much  to  do  to  waste 
any  time  on  those  who  didn't  try  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  that  those 
would  live  longest  who  were  smartest 
and  most  independent.  He  had  sharp 
eyes,  had  old  Mr.  Loon,  just  as  Dippy 
has  today,  and  he  used  them  to  good 
account.  He  saw  at  once  that  with  so 
many  birds  and  animals  living  on  the 
land  it  was  likely  to  get  crowded  after 
a  while,  and  that  when  such  became 
the  case,  it  was  going  to  be  mighty 
hard  work  for  some  to  get  a  living. 
So  Mr.  Loon  went  to  Mother  Nature 
and  told  her  that  if  she  had  no  objec- 
tions he  would  like  a  pair  of  swimming 
feet  and  would  live  on  the  water. 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY  223 

*'  Now  Old  Mother  Nature  had  just 
fitted  out  Mr.  Duck  with  a  pair  of 
webbed  feet  that  he  might  swim,  so  she 
was  quite  prepared  to  fit  Mr.  Loon  out 
in  like  manner. 

*^  *  I  suppose,'  said  she,  ^  that  you 
>ant  a  bill  like  Mr.  Duck's.' 

*'  Mr.  Loon  shook  his  head.  '  Thank 
you,'  said  he,  '  but  I  would  prefer  a 
sharp  bill  to  a  broad  one.' 

"  ^  How  is  that?  '  exclaimed  Mother 
Nature.  '  Mr.  Duck  has  been  delighted 
with  his  bill  ever  since  I  gave  it  to 
him.' 

"  *  And  with  good  reason,'  replied 
Mr.  Loon.  '  Did  I  propose  to  live  as 
Mr.  Duck  lives,  I  should  want  a  bill 
just  like  his,  but  I  find  that  fish  are 
more  to  my  liking.  Also  I  have  noticed 
that  there  are  fewer  who  eat  fish.' 

'*  So  Mother  Nature  gave  him  the 
kind  of  bill  he  wanted,  and  Mr.  Loon 


224  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

went  about  his  business.  He  managed 
to  get  fisli  enough  to  keep  from  going 
himgry,  but  he  foimd  that  the  only 
way  he  could  do  it  was  to  sit  perfectly 
still  until  a  fish  swam  within  reach  and 
then  strike  swiftly.  In  fact,  his  fish- 
ing was  much  like  that  of  Mr.  Heron, 
save  that  the  latter  stood  instead  of 
sitting.  Success  was  chiefly  the  result 
of  luck  and  patience. 

*'  Now  this  sort  of  thing  was  not  at 
all  to  the  liking  of  Mr.  Loon.  He 
gloried  in  his  strength  and  he  wanted 
to  hunt  for  his  fish  and  catch  them  in 
fair  chase  instead  of  waiting  for  them 
to  unsuspectingly  swim  within  reach. 
He  practised  and  practised  swimming 
and  diving,  but  he  soon  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  never  would  be  able  to 
move  through  the  water  fast  enough  to 
catch  a  fish  unless  there  was  some 
change.     He  watched  the  fish  swim, 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY   225 

and  he  saw  that  the  power  which  drove 
them  through  the  water  came  from 
their  tails.  Mr.  Loon  grew  very 
thoughtful. 

*'  The  next  time  Mother  Nature 
came  around  to  see  how  everybody 
was  getting  on,  to  hear  complaints,  and 
to  grant  such  requests  as  seemed  wise, 
Mr.  Loon  was  on  hand.  '  If  you 
please,'  said  he  when  his  turn  came, 
*  I  would  like  my  legs  moved  back  to 
the  lower  end  of  my  body.' 

''  Mother  Nature  was  surprised. 
She  looked  it.  ^  But  you  11  hardly  be 
able  to  walk  at  all  with  your  legs 
there!  '  she  exclaimed. 

^'  Mr.  Loon  said  that  he  knew  that, 
and  that  he  didn't  want  to  walk.  He 
would  far  rather  spend  all  his  time 
on  the  water.  So  Mother  Nature 
granted  his  request.  Mr.  Loon 
thanked  her  and  started  for  the  water. 


226   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

He  couldn't  keep  his  balance.  He 
simply  flopped  along,  while  all  his 
neighbors,  who  had  heard  his  queer  re- 
quest, jeered  at  him  and  called  him 
crazy.  He  just  didn't  pay  any  atten- 
tion, but  flopped  along  until  he  reached 
the  water.  Then  he  swam  away 
swiftly.  When  he  was  quite  by  him- 
self with  none  to  see,  he  dived,  and  as 
he  had  hoped,  he  found  that  he  could 
drive  himself  through  the  water  at 
great  speed.  He  practised  a  while  and 
then  he  went  fishing.  When  he  caught 
his  first  fish  in  a  fair  chase,  he  was  so 
delighted  that  he  shrieked  and  shouted 
and  laughed  in  the  wildest  fashion  far 
into  the  night.  And  those  who  had 
heard  his  strange  request  and  thought 
him  crazy  were  sure  of  it,  as  they  lis- 
tened to  his  wild  laughter. 

^*  So  little  by  little  it  was  spread 
about  among  all  the  other  people  that 


WHERE  DIPPY  GETS  NAME  OF  CRAZY   227 

Mr.  Loon  was  crazy,  and  he  was  left 
much  to  himself,  which  was  just  what 
he  desired.  He  was  quick  to  note  that 
the  sound  of  his  voice  sent  shivers  over 
some  of  his  neighbors,  and  so  he  would 
shriek  and  laugh  just  to  drive  them 
away.  It  pleased  him  to  have  them 
think  him  crazy,  and  he  kept  it  up. 

**  So  it  is  with  Dippy  today,  and 
last  night  you  ran  from  the  voice  of  a 
crazy  Loon  who  isn't  crazy  at  all,  but 
likes  to  make  people  think  he  is,^* 
concluded  Grandfather  Prog. 


XVI 

WHERE  BIG-HORN  GOT  HIS  CURVED 
HORNS 


XVI 

WHERE  BIG-HORN  GOT  HIS  CURVED  HORNS 

IT  was  Digger  the  Badger  who  told 
Peter  Rabbit  the  story  of  the 
great  Ram  who  was  the  first  of 
all  the  wild  Sheep  who  live  on  the  tops 
of  the  mountains  bomiding  the  great 
plains  of  the  Far  West  on  which  Dig- 
ger was  bom.  It  happened  that 
Farmer  Brown's  flock  of  Sheep  were 
grazing  in  the  Old  Pasture  in  plain 
sight  of  Digger  as  he  sat  on  his  door- 
step watching  his  shadow  grow  longer. 
At  the  head  of  the  flock  was  a  Ram 
whose  horns  curved  around  in  almost 
a  circle,  and  whom  Peter  Rabbit  often 
had  admired. 


232  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

Peter  happened  along  as  Digger  sat 
there  on  his  doorstep  watching  his 
shadow  grow  longer,  so  he  sat  down 
at  a  safe  and  respectful  distance  and 
helped  Digger  watch  his  shadow  grow 
longer.  Peter  delights  in  doing  things 
like  this,  because  it  isn't  hard  work  at 
all.  It  is  only  when  there  is  real  work 
concerned  that  Peter  loses  interest. 
A  lot  of  people  are  just  like  Peter  in 
this  respect. 

Peter  gazed  over  at  the  Old  Pasture 
and  he,  too,  saw  Farmer  Brown's 
Sheep  and  the  big  Ram  with  the  curv- 
ing horns  at  his  head.  For  a  long  time 
Peter  had  greatly  admired  those  horns, 
though  he  never  had  told  any  one  so. 
He  had  admired  those  horns  because 
they  were  different  from  any  other 
horns  Peter  ever  had  seen.  They 
looked  perfectly  useless  for  fighting 
because  they  curved  so  that  the  points 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS     233 

never  could  be  made  to  hurt  any  one, 
but  just  the  same  Peter  admired  them. 
Now  as  he  watched  he  spoke  aloud, 
without  thinking  what  he  was  doing. 

'^  I  wish  I  had  a  pair  of  horns  like 
those/'  said  he  wistfully. 

Digger  the  Badger  stopped  watching 
his  shadow,  and  turned  to  stare  at 
Peter.  Then  he  laughed  until  finally 
he  choked.  Peter  looked  at  him  in 
surprise. 

**  What's  the  matter  with  you,  Mr. 
Badger?  "  asked  he.  ''  What  is  there 
to  laugh  at?  " 

*'  Only  you,  Peter.  Only  you,"  re- 
plied Digger  faintly,  for  he  had 
laughed  so  hard  that  he  had  almost  lost 
his  voice.  **  I  am  afraid  you  would 
find  a  pair  of  horns  like  those  rather 
heavy,  Peter,  rather  heavy." 

Peter  grinned.  ^'  Of  course  I  didn't 
really    mean    that,"    said    he.      **  Of 


234  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

course  not.  I  was  just  thinking  how 
nice  it  would  be  to  have  such  fine  horns, 
if  one  were  big  enough  to  have  horns. 
I  don't  believe  there  are  any  other  such 
horns  in  all  the  Great  World." 

"  And  that  shows  how  little  you 
know  about  the  Great  World,  Peter," 
retorted  Digger  the  Badger. 

**  Did  you  ever  see  such  horns  be- 
fore? "  demanded  Peter. 

'^  No,  I  never  did,"  confessed  Dig- 
ger, *'  but  I've  heard  my  grandfather 
tell  of  Sheep  that  live  on  the  tops  of 
the  great  moimtains  as  free  as  Light- 
foot  the  Deer  or  any  other  of  the  Green 
Forest  people,  and  with  horns  so  large 
that  they,  the  Sheep,  are  called  Big- 
Horns.  From  what  I  have  heard  my 
grandfather  say,  those  horns  over 
there  of  Mr.  Ram's  are  nothing  to  brag 
about.  No,  Sir,  they  are  nothing  to 
brag  about.     One  of  those  wild,  free 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS     235 

cousins  of  Mr.  Ram  over  there  would 
laugh  at  those  horns.  But  they  are 
funny  horns,  and  they've  been  like  that 
always  since  the  days  of  the  first  great 
Ram,  the  great-great-ever-so-great- 
grandfather  of  all  the  Sheep,  so  my 
grandfather  told  me.  It  was  way  back 
in  those  long-ago  days  that  they  be- 
came curved  and  quite  useless  for 
fighting,  and  all  because  of  old  Big- 
Hom  going  about  with  a  chip  on  his 
shoulder." 

Peter  pricked  up  his  ears.  *'  That 
was  a  funny  thing  for  Big-Hom  to  be 
doing,''  said  he.  *'  What  under  the  sun 
did  he  have  a  chip  on  his  shoulder 
for?  And  what  harm  was  there  in 
that,  even  if  he  did?  " 

Once  more  Digger  began  to  laugh. 
**  Peter,"  said  he,  **  you  certainly  are 
the  funniest  fellow  I  know.  Of  course 
old  Big-Hom  didn't  really  have  a  chip 


236  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

on  his  shoulder.  That  is  just  a  saying, 
Peter,  just  a  saying.  When  any  one 
goes  about  looking  for  trouble  and 
ready  to  quarrel  at  the  least  pretext, 
he  is  said  to  be  carrying  a  chip  on  his 
shoulder  and  daring  anybody  to  knock 
it  oft" 

''  Oh!  "  said  Peter. 

^*  And  so,"  continued  Digger,  "  Big- 
Horn  didn't  have  anything  to  do  with 
a  really,  truly  chip,  but  just  went  about 
always  trying  to  get  somebody  to  fight 
with  him.  It  wasn't  that  Big-Hom  was 
ugly.  He  wasn't.  You  see  Old  Mother 
Nature  had  given  him  great  strength. 
Yes,  Sir,  for  his  size  Big-Hom  was 
very  strong,  and  in  that  strength  he 
took  great  pride.  And  Mother  Nature 
had  given  him  a  pair  of  very  large  and 
strong  horns  with  which  to  defend  him- 
self if  there  should  be  need.  Those 
horns  were  almost  straight,  and  with 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS     237 

Big-Horn's  great  strength  behind 
them,  they  were  truly  dangerous 
weapons.  He  didn't  think  of  that. 
No,  Sir,  he  didn't  think  of  that.  He 
was  just  brimming  full  of  life,  and  he 
dearly  loved  to  try  his  strength  against 
the  strength  of  others.  It  got  so  that 
the  instant  he  saw  anybody,  down 
would  go  his  head  and  at  them  he 
would  go  full  tilt. 

^^  It  was  great  fun  —  for  him. 
Sometimes  he  got  the  worst  of  it,  as 
when  Old  King  Bear  stepped  aside  at 
the  very  last  instant  and  hit  him  such 
a  clip  with  his  gTeat  paw  that  Big- 
Horn  was  sent  rolling  over  and  over 
and  lost  his  breath  for  a  few  minutes. 
But  usually  it  was  the  other  who  got 
the  worst  of  it,  for  those  great,  sharp- 
pointed  horns  of  Big-Horn's  tore  and 
hurt.  Indeed,  even  when  he  tried  to  be 
gentle   with  those   smaller  than  him- 


238  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 


self  he  was  forever  hurting  some  one. 
*^  Finally  some  of  his  neighbors 
wished  to  go  to  Old  Mother  Nature  and 
complain  about  Big-Horn,  but  others 
were  against  this  plan  because  they 
knew  that  Old  Mother  Nature  was 
quite  loaded  down  with  cares  and 
worries  as  it  was.  So  instead  they 
called  a  meeting  to  which  everybody 
except  Big-Hom  was  invited.  If  Big- 
Horn  could  have  heard  all  that  was 
said  about  him,  his  ears  surely  would 
have  burned.  Every  one  was  of  the 
opinion  that  something  must  be  done, 
but  just  what  no  one  could  suggest. 
At  last,  just  when  it  seemed  that  the 
meeting  would  break  up  without  any- 
thing being  done.  Old  Man  Coyote 
stepped  forward.  Now  Old  Man  Co- 
yote already  was  known  as  a  very 
clever  fellow,  more  clever  even  than 
Mr.  Fox,  though  it  would  never  have 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS     239 

done  to  say  so  where  it  would  get  back 
to  the  ears  of  Mr.  Fox. 

''  '  Friends  and  neighbors,'  said  Old 
Man  Coyote,  '  it  seems  to  me  a  very 
simple  matter  to  teach  Neighbor  Big- 
Hom  a  lesson  that  he  will  not  soon 
forget.  Being  rather  bashful,  I  haven't 
liked  to  suggest  it  before,  because  I 
thought  surely  some  one  else  would  do 
it.  I  suggest  that  some  one  be  selected 
to  fight  Big-Hom,  and  when  that  one 
can  fight  no  longer,  some  one  else  be 
selected  to  fight  him,  and  so  on  until 
he  gets  tired,  and  some  one  can  whip 
him.  Then  I  thijik  he  will  have  had 
enough  of  fighting.' 

'*  Up  spoke  Mr.  Fox  and  he  winked 
at  his  neighbor  on  the  right  and  he 
winked  at  his  neighbor  on  the  left. 
*  That  is  a  very  good  idea  of  Neighbor 
Coyote's,'  said  he,  '  a  very  good  idea 
indeed,  and  I  suggest  that  Mr.  Coyote 


240  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

be  selected  for  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  one  to  fight  Big-Horn.'  Mr.  Fox 
grinned  in  a  sly  way,  and  everybody 
else  grinned,  for  everybody  knew  that 
Old  Man  Coyote  never  was  known  to 
fight  when  there  was  a  chance  to  run 
away.  So  with  one  accord  everybody 
agreed  with  Mr.  Fox,  and  Old  Man 
Coyote  was  selected  as  the  first  one 
to  face  Big-Hom.  To  everybody's 
surprise,  Old  Man  Coyote  made  no  ob- 
jections. Instead  he  expressed  himself 
as  highly  honored,  and  said  that  he 
hoped  to  do  so  well  that  there  would 
be  no  need  for  others  to  fight  Big- 
Hom.  So  it  was  arranged  that  Big- 
Hom  should  be  invited  to  fight  Old 
Man  Coyote  the  very  next  day. 

^*  You  may  be  sure  that  everybody 
was  on  hand  the  next  day  to  see  that 
fight.  No  one  expected  Old  Man 
Coyote  to  appear.    But  he  did.    Yes, 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS      241 

Sir,  he  did.  He  was  right  on  hand  at 
the  appointed  time.  Big-Horn  hadn't 
been  told  whom  he  was  to  fight,  and 
when  he  found  that  it  was  Old  Man 
Coyote,  he  was  disappointed.  You  see, 
there  was  no  anger  in  Big-Horn's  fight- 
ing; he  fought  just  for  the  love  of 
using  his  great  strength  and  big  horns. 
Fighting  was  fun  to  him,  and  he 
wanted  some  one  who  would  stand  up 
to  him.  As  soon  as  it  was  explained 
to  him  that  when  he  had  disposed  of 
Old  Man  Coyote  there  would  be  some 
one  else  for  him  to  fight  (Mr.  Deer 
had  offered  to  be  the  next),  he  felt 
better.  Mr.  Deer  had  horns  and  was 
somewhere  near  his  size. 

**  Old  Man  Coyote  slipped  around 
until  he  had  his  back  to  a  great  rock. 
*  I'm  ready  any  time,'  said  he. 

**  Big-Hom,  who  had  been  stamping 
with  impatience,  lowered  his  head  so 


242  MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

that  Ms  horns  pointed  straight  at  Old 
Man  Coyote.  He  grinned  as  he  did  it, 
for  he  saw  that  with  that  great  rock 
behind  him,  Old  Man  Coyote  would 
have  no  chance  to  run  away  as  he 
always  had  done  in  the  past.  Every- 
body else  saw  the  same  thing,  and  won- 
dered what  could  have  happened  to 
make  Old  Man  Coyote  so  stupid  as  to 
do  such  a  thing  as  that,  he  who  always 
had  been  accounted  so  clever.  But 
they  had  hardly  time  to  think  of  this, 
for  with  a  snort  Big-Hom  bounded 
forward.  All  the  others  held  their 
breath  as  they  saw  those  great  horns 
driving  straight  at  Old  Man  Coyote, 
who  was  crouched  with  his  back  to  the 
great  rock.  Then  everybody  closed 
their  eyes  for  a  second,  for  nobody 
wanted  to  see  Old  Man  Coyote  killed, 
and  everybody  knew  that  that  was 
what  was  going  to  happen. 


BIG-HORN  GETS  CURVED  HORNS     243 

**  Then  there  was  a  crash,  and  every- 
body's eyes  flew  open.  There  lay  Big- 
Hom  on  the  ground,  looking  mighty 
puzzled,  as  if  he  wasn't  quite  sure 
what  had  happened.  And  there  sat 
Old  Man  Coyote,  grinning  at  himf 
They  were  still  staring  at  Old  Man 
Coyote  as  if  they  couldn't  believe  their 
own  eyes  when  some  one  cried,  '  Look 
at  the  horns  of  Big-Hom!  ' 

**  Instead  of  being  long  and  straight, 
those  great  horns  were  curved  over 
and  round  into  almost  a  circle,  and 
there  was  no  longer  danger  from  their 
sharp  points.  What  had  happened? 
Why,  at  just  the  right  instant  Old  Man 
Coyote  had  leaped  over  Big-Horn,  and 
Big-Hom  had  butted  into  that  great 
rock  with  all  his  might.  He  had  hit 
so  hard,  biff!  bang!  that  he  had  bent 
his  horns,  just  as  crafty,  clever  Old 
Man  Coyote  had  hoped  he  would. 


244   MOTHER  WEST  WIND  WHERE  STORIES 

''  When  Old  Mother  Nature  heard 
of  the  affair  and  saw  those  bent  horns, 
she  chuckled  at  the  cleverness  of  Old 
Man  Coyote  and  decided  to  leave  those 
horns  just  as  they  were  for  the  safety 
of  Big-Horn's  neighbors.  And  so  they 
remained  as  long  as  Big-Horn  lived, 
and  just  so  have  been  the  horns  in  his 
family  from  that  day  to  this/'  con- 
cluded Digger,  and  once  more  began 
to  watch  his  shadow  grow  longer. 


THE    END 


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